Chapter 531 Explosive news!
After Jiang Le finished speaking, before Ma Hongde made any statement, his brother Ma Hongye's face suddenly darkened. Then he looked at Ma Hongde, as if he was just waiting for Ma Hongde's order. He then called on the servants and martial artists in the mansion to fight with the Fengwu Army in front of him...
Although Ma Hongde's emotions were not as obvious as Ma Hongye's, his heart was also turbulent, and he was far less calm than he appeared to be. He knew that what was coming would eventually come, and now the Coordination Office had come to his house. If nothing unexpected happened, Ye Mingsheng should have known something about his plan. Now it seems that he didn't know how much he knew!
After pondering for a moment, Ma Hongde's face reappeared with a faint smile. He bowed to Jiang Le and said:

"Captain Jiang, I wonder who your master is?"

In response to Ma Hongde's question, Jiang Le did not hide anything and said directly:
"Wang Xuecheng, deputy director of the Fengwu Military Coordination Office!"

Hearing the name Wang Xuecheng from Jiang Le's mouth, Ma Hongde's eyes could not help but be stern. As an outstanding businessman who is well versed in officialdom, after the Fengwu Army captured Yijing, he mobilized his connections to conduct a large-scale investigation of the Fengwu Army's senior officials to find out their backgrounds, hobbies and life experiences.

And this Wang Xuecheng is one of the people that Ma Hongde pays special attention to. Compared with Cui Shao, Gu Sansi and Murong Yuliang, Wang Xuecheng is relatively unknown, and he is only a deputy director, with Huo San as the official director above him.

But what caught Ma Hongde's attention was that Wang Xuecheng and Ye Mingsheng were related. Although the relationship was not very close, it did exist. This made him one of the few people in the Fengwu Army who could meet Ye Mingsheng directly.

In addition, although he had never met Wang Xuecheng before, when Wang Xuecheng was still selling stolen goods from Liaoyang to the interior of the country, he had dealt with the Ma family...
So at that time Ma Hongde had heard of the name of Wang Xuecheng, and knew that this person was very smart and meticulous, and he could always complete the tasks assigned to him without any mistakes, which made people feel at ease!

Ma Hongde ignored the anxious look of his brother Ma Hongye behind him, and asked Jiang Le again:

"Director Wang has arrived in Dai County?"

Jiang Le nodded impatiently.
"That's right!"

Hearing Jiang Le's affirmative answer, Ma Hongde's heart suddenly sank. He thought quickly for a few times and then said:
"Since Director Wang is here, I, Ma from Dai County, will naturally go to pay my respects to him. Please wait for a moment and go into the mansion to have some tea. I will arrange things at home and then go with you!"

After saying this, Ma Hongde gave a very covert look to the servants beside him, indicating that they should prepare the gift money and give it to Jiang Le and his men after they entered the mansion. However, what Ma Hongde did not expect was that Jiang Le directly rejected his request and said coldly:
"Ma Hongde, the order I received from above is to take you back immediately after seeing you. I've given you some face because we are in Dai County. Don't push your luck and get yourself into trouble!"

Ma Hongye, who was already very upset about the Fengwu Army coming to his doorstep, immediately turned hostile when he heard Jiang Le's threat to his fourth brother:
“You are just a centurion in the Coordination Office. I can crush you to death with just a flick of my finger, and now you are so arrogant…”

As soon as these words came out, Jiang Le's expression suddenly changed and he didn't waste any words with Ma Hongye and directly ordered:

"The gunman is ready!"

Under Jiang Le's command, hundreds of musketeers immediately raised their muskets, loaded their guns and aimed at the Ma family compound. Facing the hundreds of black gun muzzles, Ma Hongye, who was so rampant a second ago, felt a little scared and dared not say a word, but for the sake of his face he stiffened his neck and endured it.

At this critical moment, Ma Hongde stood up and walked to Ma Hongye. Without any nonsense, he went straight to Ma Hongye and slapped him twice with great force. Ma Hongye was stunned and saw stars. After the two slaps, Ma Hongde cursed fiercely:
"Shut your stinky mouth!"

After teaching Ma Hongye a lesson, Ma Hongde bowed to Jiang Le and said:
"I apologize to you, Captain Jiang, on his behalf. I hope you, Captain Jiang, will be magnanimous and not bother with him. I can go with you now!"

Although he was scolded by Ma Hongye, Jiang Le was quite satisfied with the explanation given by Ma Hongde, so he did not care about it. He put down his hand and removed the aim and loaded the gun, intending to take Ma Hongde away.

Although he was scolded by Ma Hongde in front of everyone and slapped twice, this did not affect the deep brotherhood between him and Ma Hongye. Seeing that Ma Hongde was really going to leave with the Fengwu Army to meet Wang Xuecheng, the deputy director of the Coordination Office, Ma Hongye could not help but shout out with great concern:
"Fourth brother!"

Hearing Ma Hongye's cry, Ma Hongde forcibly suppressed the urge to turn around, and said loudly with his back to Ma Hongye:

"Take good care of the house and wait for me to come back!"

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Yijing, the Governor's Office.

As usual, Ye Mingsheng practiced Bajiquan in the morning. After exercising his body, he came to the study. At this moment, Qi Dechao and Ye Cheng were waiting for him in the study.

Ye Mingsheng looked at Ye Cheng, who had taken over the position of attendant from Qi Dechao. Without Ye Mingsheng saying anything, Ye Cheng immediately spoke:
"Your Excellency, the main things to do today are to listen to the combat reports from the Xinle Shunping front, as well as the deployment of the Coordination Office against the Ma family and their followers. In addition, we will listen to Lord Gu Sansi's latest progress on the public-private partnership reform in Youyan. Chief of Staff He has already made an appointment for today at 9:00 p.m., and Director Huo of the Coordination Office and Lord Gu have made appointments for the afternoon..."

Listening to Ye Cheng's report, Ye Mingsheng glanced at the time and saw that there was still about a quarter of an hour left before the hour of Si. He looked at Qi Dechao who was standing next to Ye Cheng and asked:
"Have you figured out where you're going next?"

Although Qi Dechao is still Ye Mingsheng's aide-de-camp in name, under Ye Mingsheng's arrangement, he has been following Gu Sansi during this period of time, assisting Gu Sansi in implementing the new policy as Gu Sansi's assistant. According to what Ye Mingsheng learned from Gu Sansi, Qi Dechao performed very well beside Gu Sansi, greatly improving Gu Sansi's work efficiency and solving many problems. Gu Sansi has a very high opinion of Qi Dechao.

Although he was reluctant to let Qi Dechao, whom he had trained, leave the central government and take up a post in a local position, Ye Mingsheng knew very well that grassroots training experience was essential to becoming a high-ranking official. You need to understand the sufferings of the people at the grassroots level and feel what the people really need. Only in this way, when you take up important official positions in the future and participate in the formulation of national policies, can you make correct decisions that are in line with people's livelihood and public opinion. Originally, when Ye Mingsheng came back from Dongning last time, he should have started to send Qi Dechao abroad, but because Ye Mingsheng decided to appoint Ye Cheng as his new attendant, and although Ye Cheng had been exposed to a lot of military affairs as a steward in the Governor's Mansion before, he had not been trained in the government and the army, and had no experience in this area, so Ye Mingsheng kept Qi Dechao for a while and let Qi Dechao take care of Ye Cheng...

After studying for this period of time, although Ye Cheng is not yet fully qualified for this job, he has basically adapted to this position. What remains is time for experience. Therefore, Ye Mingsheng put the matter of Qi Dechao's relocation on the agenda and gave Qi Dechao several choices. Now it depends on what choice Qi Dechao will make!

Under Ye Mingsheng's gaze, Qi Dechao took a deep breath and his eyes gradually became firm. Facing Ye Mingsheng's gaze, he spoke:
"Sir, I want to go to Jizhou!"

Hearing Qi Dechao's choice, Ye Mingsheng looked at him deeply with some surprise and said:

"You should know the situation in Jizhou. It just suffered a rain disaster and the situation is very bad!"

Qi Dechao said without hesitation:
"I know all this, sir, but I still want to go to Jizhou!"

Ye Mingsheng became interested after hearing this and continued to ask:
"Tell me why you chose Jizhou!"

In response to Ye Mingsheng's question, Qi Dechao organized his words and said slowly:

“Before, I had a lot of hesitation in my heart about the choice you gave me, and I didn’t know where I should go. But after learning about the severity of the flood in Jizhou, I have always wanted to go to Jizhou. During the time I have been with you, De Chao has benefited a lot, and I want to use what I have learned to benefit the people! And right now, Jizhou is in danger, and it is the best place for me to go..."

Ye Mingsheng looked at him with some approval. Seeing this, Qi Dechao was also encouraged and mustered up the courage to speak:
"Besides that, I think Jizhou is the connection point between Liaoyang and Youyan. It is also the front line close to the grassland and an important node of our army's overall strategy. I want to cooperate with our garrison officers and soldiers there, do a good job in military and civilian work, and guard the northern gate of my Fengwu Army for you!"

Listening to Qi Dechao's analysis, Ye Mingsheng pondered for a while, nodded and said:
"Jizhou's geographical location is indeed very important and cannot be lost!"

After saying this, Ye Mingsheng thought about it for a while, then made up his mind and told Qi Dechao:

"Since you have made up your mind, De Chao, I will fulfill your sincere wish. The position of Jizhou Tongpan is now vacant. You can go there and be a Tongpan. Try your best to find out all the corrupt officials and give the people peace!"

When the word "Tongpan" came out, Qi Dechao's eyes showed a touch of surprise. Although he wanted to govern for the people, he would not dislike a higher official rank and greater power in the officialdom. Before, when he was with Ye Mingsheng, although others respected him very much, Qi Dechao knew that it was because he was Ye Mingsheng's attendant, not because of Qi Dechao himself! Now he has to take his first step in the officialdom independently!
Although Qi Dechao had many expectations about what official rank Ye Mingsheng would assign him, the position of Tongpan had already surprised him greatly. One must know that among the official positions in the Great Zhou Dynasty, Tongpan was a sixth-rank official position, in charge of the criminal law power of a state, and was an absolutely powerful position...
Qi Dechao took a deep breath, bowed deeply to Ye Mingsheng and said:
"Thank you for your cultivation, De Chao will never let you down!"

Ye Mingsheng nodded slightly and encouraged:

"Do a good job! I'm waiting for your good news in Yijing!"

After dealing with Qi Dechao's affairs, Ye Mingsheng began the first step of today's work. He met with He Jingyun to listen to his report on the battle of Xinle Shunping.

However, what he never expected was that before he had time to hear about the war situation in Xinle Shunping, Huo San from the General Coordination Office came urgently to ask for a meeting. Having learned from Wang Xuecheng's urgent report last time, Ye Cheng did not delay at all this time and brought him directly to Ye Mingsheng!

As soon as he saw Ye Mingsheng, Huo San directly told him an explosive piece of information.

"Your Excellency just received news from Anqing that Xu Zhaojie led the Anqing Army to attack Huaiyuan Prefecture, and together with Cao Changping, they attacked Feng Keqin's Huai Army from the front and back. The Huai Army was defeated and only more than 30,000 men were said to have retreated. Even the Huai Army's Grand Commander Feng Keqin has no accurate news. Some people say he was shot by several arrows, while others say he left safely!"

Upon hearing the news, Ye Mingsheng's expression instantly became solemn. Although neither Anqing nor Huainan directly bordered his Fengwu Army, the emergence of this situation was likely to change the current situation...

"Tell me in detail!" Ye Mingsheng ordered Huo San:
"Yes!"

Huo San nodded and organized his words to explain:
"Since the news is urgent, our secret agent in Anqing only sent back the general information, but not the specific content. As soon as I got the news, I immediately reported it to you. As for the more specific and detailed information, it is expected to be sent back to Yijing from Anqing in the next three to seven days!"

"At present, we only know that the reason why Feng Keqin went north to attack Cao Changping this time was largely due to Xu Zhaojie's promotion. It was under Xu Zhaojie's instigation that Feng Keqin mobilized the elite troops of the Huai Army to besiege Langya, and Xu Zhaojie also attacked the heartland of Qi and Lu from the flank of Langya. Their original strategy was very clear, and they wanted to use this to defeat Cao Changping in one fell swoop!"

“But Xu Zhaojie and Cao Changping had already contacted each other. The so-called Northern Expedition was a trap set by the two of them for Feng Keqin. Cao Changping attracted the main force of the Huai Army to Langya, and Xu Zhaojie took advantage of Feng Keqin's unpreparedness to launch a surprise attack and capture Huaiyuan City, cutting off his retreat…”

(End of this chapter)