Chapter 532: Two paths before Ma Hongde!
In a house in Dai County.

Ma Hongde was sitting on the ground leaning against the wall with his eyes closed. About ten hours had passed since he was taken away by Jiang Le yesterday. He thought he would be able to see Wang Xuecheng immediately and had thought of a strategy to deal with Wang Xuecheng, but what he never expected was that Wang Xuecheng didn't see him at all...

After he was brought to this house, he was left alone in this room. From yesterday till now, he had only been given two cold steamed buns and a toilet. Apart from that, the guards ignored all his requests. He spent a night of hunger and cold here last night.
As a wealthy businessman and a red-topped businessman in Youyan, before the Fengwu Army arrived, Ma Hongde always had the final say with the officials he met, and many officials had to act according to his mood. There has always been a rumor in the officialdom of Youyan that Ma Hongde is the underground governor of Youyan. The governor cannot decide the policies set by the provincial government, and whether they can be implemented depends on Ma Hongde's mood!
Even when meeting Zhao Fuqu, Ma Hongde was definitely a guest of honor and the object that the two brothers Zhao Yongan and Zhao Yongwen tried their best to win over. He had never suffered such humiliation in the land of Yanzhao and was treated like a prisoner. Although it was very difficult to accept, the situation was stronger than the person, and Ma Hongde could only endure it silently.

At this moment, Ma Hongde felt a little uneasy in his heart, and he felt that he had lost control of the current situation!
Although he was sitting on the ground with his eyes closed, trying his best to reduce his consumption, Ma Hongde still felt a little hungry after a while. Ma Hongde ignored it and persisted for another hour. Ma Hongde really couldn't bear it anymore and took out half a steamed bun from his arms.

This was the meal that the guards brought to him yesterday, but he didn’t know why the meal was brought to him, so he didn’t dare to eat it all. He kept half of it for himself in case of emergency. Now was the time to use it. Chewing the cold steamed bun carefully, bite by bite, Ma Hongde, who was used to eating big fish and meat, felt that the cold steamed bun, which he usually disdained to eat, was especially sweet and delicious now...
After finishing the remaining half of the cold steamed bun and recovering some strength, Ma Hongde looked towards the door. Originally, he was very confident that Wang Xuecheng would meet him, but after experiencing this situation, his confidence had begun to waver.

After another three hours, the physical strength brought by half a steamed bun was used up again. He was cold and hungry and seemed to be a little dizzy. At this moment, there was a sound of footsteps outside the door. Hearing the footsteps, Ma Hongde gritted his teeth and straightened up, waiting for the other party to appear.

Soon the door was opened, and a middle-aged man dressed as a Confucian scholar walked into the room and appeared in Ma Hongde's sight.

Although Ma Hongde tried very hard to cheer himself up, Wang Xuecheng, who walked into the room, could see at a glance how weak and haggard he was. This made Wang Xuecheng nod with satisfaction. This was exactly the effect he wanted. He knew that Ma Hongde was a difficult character, so he specially arranged this "impressive" experience for Ma Hongde.

"Ma Hongde, Master Ma, I have heard of your great name for a long time!" Wang Xuecheng said with a smile:

Under Wang Xuecheng's gaze, Ma Hongde said calmly;
"Director Wang, you are joking. Director Wang, I am truly close to you. I am very lucky to meet you today!"

Wang Xuecheng was not surprised that Ma Hongde recognized him at first sight. After all, Ma Hongde was known as the underground governor, and his spies were all over the Youyan officialdom. It was not surprising that he could recognize him...
After a casual greeting, Wang Xuecheng said to Ma Hongde with a half-smile:

"I guess you, Mr. Ma, are really curious about what's going on outside now!"

Ma Hongde fell silent after hearing this, then nodded calmly and said:
"Director Wang, you are right. I really want to know what happened outside. I wonder if you are willing to help me solve this problem?"

Wang Xuecheng was a little surprised to see Ma Hongde admit it directly, but he did not tell Ma Hongde but said:

"Master Ma Si, what do you think is going to happen outside now?"

Ma Hongde pondered for a while and said:
"Since I have been captured by you, Director Wang, I believe that my plans have also been uncovered by you, Director Wang!"

Seeing that Ma Hongde could say these things so calmly, Wang Xuecheng looked up to him in his heart, but he also said mercilessly and pointedly:
"It seems that you, Mr. Ma, are very confident in the battle of Xinle Shunping and your Luobei friends. You think they can save your life, so you are so calm!"

After these words came out, Ma Hongde, who had just sat on the mountain and remained calm, suddenly had a flash of panic in his eyes. Seeing this, Wang Xuecheng was too lazy to keep the secret and said directly:
"Ma Hongde, I know you have always been keeping something in reserve. Liu Ju, the county magistrate of Dai County, is your man. You also secretly support the bandits outside the city and help you eliminate dissidents. But now that I am here, you don't have to worry about it!"

"Now that my Marshal has taken charge of Youyan, you must pay the price for the things you have done that harmed the world and disregarded human lives. The fate of you and your accomplices is already doomed, and no one can save you..."

Hearing that his trump card in Dai County was directly exposed by Wang Xuecheng, Ma Hongde's face changed and his expression became gloomy, while Wang Xuecheng continued:

"Ma Hongde, the only thing you can do now is to atone for the sins you have committed. Although you and your accomplices have committed sins beyond description and deserve death, the children and women of your Ma family are not necessarily guilty! Our Marshal is a righteous man. If you can wake up in time, our Marshal may show some leniency!"

Ma Hongde also understood what Wang Xuecheng was thinking and said:
"Are you eyeing our Ma family's businesses outside the city?"

Wang Xuecheng said coldly:

"And the account book in your hand and the list of people who have received money from you. If it weren't for these, we would have uprooted you long ago just based on what you have done. How could we have waited until now?"

Ma Hongde lowered his head and was silent for a while, then raised his head and looked at Wang Xuecheng seriously and said:

"I can give you what you want, and I can also give you my head, but I want you to let go of the rest of our Ma family. Everything the Ma family has done is the fault of me, Ma Hongde, and I should bear the responsibility alone!"

"Humph!" Wang Xuecheng snorted disdainfully:

"Ma Hongde, now is not the time for you to act like a hero, and you are not in a position to bargain with us. There are only two options before you. First, your entire family, young and old, must die. Second, if you cooperate with us, you and your accomplices will all die, and all your property will be confiscated, but the children and women in your family will be able to keep their lives and be exiled to the palace!"

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Three days later, in the meeting room of the Fengwu Army General Staff Headquarters in Yijing, the Fengwu Army combat meeting was being held.
All the senior generals of the Fengwu Army in Yijing, led by Ye Mingsheng, were in place. Zhao Han, who had just been promoted by Ye Mingsheng to deputy chief of staff, stood in front of the sand table and explained:
"Marshal, generals, the battles in Xinle and Shunping are progressing very smoothly. General Ma Zhongjun and General Gu Shouting have now eliminated all the Yan army strongholds outside Xinle and Shunping respectively. In this operation, the Coordination Office provided us with a lot of help! They uncovered the Ma family's conspiracy in advance and prevented them from interfering with our combat operations!"

Listening to Zhao Han's words, Ye Mingsheng nodded slightly and said to Huo San who was sitting at the end of the meeting room:
"You guys at the Coordination Office did a great job this time. Thank you for your hard work!"

Ye Mingsheng's light "not bad" almost made Huo Sanshi burst into tears. Before, he and Wang Xuecheng, the No. 1 and No. 2 tasks of the Coordination Office, had been repeatedly criticized by Ye Mingsheng. The Coordination Office was under great pressure from top to bottom. This time, everyone in the Coordination Office put all their efforts into the action against the Ma family, just to prove their ability.

Therefore, this time Huo San personally took charge of the entire action team of the Coordination Office and wiped out all the bandits and horse gangs that the Ma family had brought in to interfere with the Xinle Shunping war, making a great contribution to the smooth progress of the Xinle Shunping war...
After sorting out his feelings, Huo San stood up and said:

"It is our honor to be able to serve the Marshal and provide some help to our colleagues in Xinle Shunping!"

Ye Mingsheng nodded slightly to indicate that Huo San could sit down, then turned his gaze back to Zhao Han, who continued:

"According to the intelligence sent back by General Ma and General Gu, after the outer strongholds were cleared, the Yan army in these two areas also suffered heavy losses. Currently, the defenders of Xinle are about 3,000 people, and the defenders of Shunping are only 5,000 people!"

"As for our army in Xinle, General Gu still has about 4,000 men under his command, and as for Shunping, General Ma still has 6,500 men under his command! General Gu and General Ma both request that you give the order to completely capture Xinle and Shunping!"

Ye Mingsheng started to think after hearing what he said. He knew the implication of Gu Shouting and Ma Zhongjun's request for him to give the order to capture the two areas was that he should send more troops to the two areas. As Sun Tzu's Art of War said, if the number of troops is ten, surround it; if the number is five, attack it; if the number is twice as many, divide it.

Especially in a siege like this, if you want to capture a city, you must have an advantage in military strength. Although the Fengwu Army has achieved certain victories in this area, its advantage in military strength is not great now. Therefore, it is inevitable to increase troops if they want to take over these two places...
After thinking for a few seconds, Ye Mingsheng looked at He Jingyun on the left and said:

"What does the General Staff think about the battles in Xinle and Shunping?"

He Jingyun had anticipated Ye Mingsheng's question and said directly:

"At present, all units of our army have been repaired. As long as we can ensure logistical supplies, we can be deployed to a new round of battle at any time! Xinle and Shunping are the barriers of the central part of Youyan. Although they are not strong cities, the solidity of the cities is not comparable to that of ordinary county towns!"

"In addition, Xinle and Shunping are the gateways to Zhuo County. If we capture these two places, we can march straight to Zhuo County. So once our army increases its troops on a large scale, the Yan army will also increase its troops. At that time, it will be a new round of all-out war!"

Listening to He Jingyun's answer, Ye Ming did not express his opinion and looked at Yuan Song on the side. Seeing this, Yuan Song also bowed and replied:

"I agree with Chief of Staff He! If we want to take Xinle and Shunping, we need to mobilize all our troops!"

After Yuan Song finished speaking, Ye Mingsheng let his generals speak freely, wanting to pool their wisdom to see if everyone had any good ideas. With the examples of He Jingyun and Yuan Song, the others basically had the same opinions as them. They all believed that if more troops were sent, the Yan army would definitely support them, and then a new round of war would begin.

After reaching this conclusion, Ye Mingsheng fell into thought again. From a military point of view, there was nothing wrong with what He Jingyun said. To protect Xinle and Shunping, the Yan army would definitely fight hard to protect Zhuo County...

In fact, the main goal of this military operation is not to capture Xinle and Shunping, but to smash the Yan army's plan to form a defensive barrier in the two areas. At present, the combat goal has been achieved. The progress of Gu Shouting and Ma Zhongjun has exceeded expectations, so they began to consider expanding the results of the battle!
In fact, he was not worried about fighting the Yan army again. Before, the Fengwu army was at a disadvantage in overall strength and had defeated the Yan army step by step. Now the Yan army had even lost Yijingdu and could only survive in the southern part of Youyan. But the key point was that although Ye Mingsheng was very confident in his army and victory was inevitable, once the war started, no one knew how long it would last.

Now, in order to increase fiscal revenue, Ye Mingsheng's new policy has entered a critical period, and the finances are a bit tight. The Ministry of Finance estimates that if the entire army is deployed, the money of the Ministry of Finance can only last for ten days at most. Can the Yan army be defeated in ten days? Moreover, Zhao Fuqu and Gao Zongchang are now in the same boat. Will Gao Zongchang send troops to intervene in the end?

If this is the case, then ten days will not be enough for this war to last...

Thinking of this, Ye Mingsheng began to ponder on the sand table. After a moment, an idea flashed in his mind, and he immediately said:
"The Yan army has 3,000 men in Xinle, while Gu Shouting and Ma Zhongjun's combined forces total 10,000. Let them work together to take down Xinle for me!"

(End of this chapter)