Chapter 543: Sanctimonious! (Thanks to book friend 16571 for the reward!)

Murong Hui fell into deep thought after hearing Ye Mingsheng’s explanation. What Ye Mingsheng had told him today about the ownership of productive forces and production relations could be said to have opened a new door for him. However, perhaps because the theory was too advanced, Murong Hui was a little confused about it...
Ye Mingsheng had no intention of interrupting Murong Hui's thoughts, but seeing that Murong Hui was lost in thought and could not reply, and he was busy with official duties and had precious time, he only had one stick of incense for today's conversation. After one stick of incense, he still had to continue working and listen to the staff's analysis of the battle situation on the Shunping front. He did not have much time to waste with Murong Hui here, so Ye Mingsheng could only cough lightly.

"Cough cough!"

Hearing Ye Mingsheng's cough, Murong Hui immediately came out of his thinking state. Realizing that he had lost his composure, he immediately apologized to Ye Mingsheng:

"What you have said is really profound and thought-provoking. Please forgive me for being rude!"

Ye Mingsheng waved his hand and said:
"It's just a small matter, no problem!"

"You just need to remember that I am not hostile to the aristocratic families. Instead, I want to re-establish a balance, a new order that will benefit the majority of people. This is the most important thing and the foundation for maintaining long-term stability, prosperity and strength in the country!"

Murong Hui nodded heavily upon hearing this and said:
"Yes, I will tell my father what the adults said!"

Ye Mingsheng nodded slightly when he heard that. This was exactly the attitude that he wanted from Murong Hui. To be honest, the reason why he specially took the time to meet Murong Hui and answer his question was not because of Murong Hui himself. Murong Hui, who was now the fifth-rank military official of the southern tour court, was of similar age to Ye Mingsheng and was already a leader among his peers. However, compared with him, Ye Mingsheng, he was still not as good as him...

The reason why Ye Mingsheng attached so much importance to him, let him visit the Fengwu Army's factory, met him in person and explained his questions was entirely because of his identity. He was the legitimate son of Murong Lun, and the Murong family was an important member of the Guanzhong clan. Therefore, Murong Hui, who came to Liaoyang on the orders of Murong Lun, could be said to be the messenger of the Murong family and even the Guanzhong clan!
Although Ye Mingsheng's established strategy was to move south rather than west, if he wanted to pacify the world, the Guanzhong nobles were a hurdle that Ye Mingsheng could not bypass. Ye Mingsheng, who had once served in the imperial guards, knew very well how powerful the Guanzhong nobles were.

Even because of the Luoan Incident, some of them supported the Southern Tour of the court, and some supported Shangguan Hongyuan. There were some contradictions and divisions within them, but they still should not be underestimated!
A great man once said that we should make more friends and fewer enemies. So in order to win their support and get their help, Ye Mingsheng needs to explain his governing philosophy to them and reduce the misunderstandings caused by lack of communication between the two sides. Now Murong Hui is a good communication channel. Ye Mingsheng wants to use his mouth to convey his ideas to the other party.

As if remembering something, Murong Hui said to Ye Mingsheng:
“The news of your efforts in pacifying the war and comforting the people in Youyan has already spread to Youyan. My father admires what you have done very much and believes that you will become the pillar of the Zhou Dynasty in defending its territory and stabilizing the northern border. With your talents, you should shoulder greater responsibilities and make more contributions to the early stability of the world…”

Murong Hui paused here deliberately, wanting to quietly observe Ye Mingsheng's facial expression, but to his disappointment, Ye Mingsheng remained calm, as if he did not hear the implication of his words. Murong Hui was a little disappointed.

After seeing Ye Mingsheng easily deal with Youyan's internal and external troubles, Murong Hui decided to visit Ye Mingsheng on behalf of the Murong family. However, he did not immediately ask Ye Mingsheng to meet him through his uncle Murong Yuliang. Instead, he sent a pigeon letter to try to lobby his father Murong Lun.

Since we have decided to make friends with Ye Mingsheng and place a bigger bet on the Fengwu Army, we naturally cannot just rely on words. We are all respectable people, so it is natural to give a gift when we meet for the first time!
When giving gifts, one must naturally give the other party what they like. What do Ye Mingsheng and the Fengwu Army want most now?
That’s naturally money and food!
If there were enough money, food and logistical support, Ye Mingsheng would have led his troops south long ago to completely wipe out the remnants of the Yan army entrenched in the southern part of Youyan.

As a large family that has been passed down for hundreds of years, although the Murong family suffered some blows in the Luoan Incident, the family treasury is still sufficient. Unfortunately, the Murong family is now thousands of miles away from Youyan, and has no way to support Ye Mingsheng with their money and food.

Since the problem of money and food was not solved, Murong Hui began to think about what else Ye Mingsheng lacked besides money and food. After several days of thinking, he finally came up with the answer.

However, even though he had the answer in his mind, Murong Hui thought for a long time before making the final decision because of the importance of the matter. It also took him a lot of effort to successfully get his father Murong Lun to agree...

Looking intently at Ye Mingsheng, Murong Hui spoke to Ye Mingsheng word by word:
"My father believes that you are the best candidate for the governor of Yan and Liao!"

Although Ye Mingsheng had a vague premonition after hearing Murong Hui's words, he was still very surprised to hear this result from Murong Hui. The gift given to him by the Murong family was really very heavy!

In today's feudal traditional society, although reputation is invisible and intangible, it is a very important thing!

Don’t you see that the attacks between the major vassal states all had to be based on reasons and justice, and to seize the moral high ground? Shangguan Hongyuan attacked Sichuan and Shu under the banner of clearing the court of corrupt officials. Previously, Zhao Fuqu attacked Yunbing under the order of the emperor, in order to eliminate Shangguan Hongyuan, a traitor who did not appreciate the emperor’s kindness.

Although everyone was thinking about their own interests, in terms of external image, everyone was full of benevolence and morality, and tried their best to show a loyal and patriotic appearance! Although Ye Mingsheng almost achieved a complete victory in the military when he sent troops to Youyan this time, he captured Yijing and occupied most of Youyan’s land, and completed all the goals in the pre-war plan, but morally, although Ye Mingsheng held high the slogan of not wanting to see Youyan suffer and accepting the invitation of the people of Youyan to enter the pass, morally, Ye Mingsheng still had some untenable grounds...
The first point is that Ye Mingsheng and Zhao Fuqu both believed that the Southern Tour Court was the orthodox of the Great Zhou Dynasty and that Shangguan Hongyuan was a traitor. Ye Mingsheng's current positions as the Liaoyang Governor and the commander of the Fengwu Army were also awarded by the Southern Tour Court. Therefore, from the perspective of the Great Zhou Dynasty's etiquette, Ye Mingsheng, as a minister, took action against Zhao Fuqu without obtaining an order from the Southern Tour Court. This was tantamount to unauthorized use of force and strife within the same family.

Secondly, Ye Mingsheng sneaked into the pass without declaring war when Zhao Fuqu was attacking Shangguan Hongyuan. Although this brought Ye Mingsheng a great advantage militarily, it was morally despicable, not to mention that he was suspected of supporting the traitor Shangguan Hongyuan.

In the end, although the Coordination Office made great efforts, the nursery rhyme about Ye Mingsheng, "The willow leaf knife, the sunken wooden boat, swallowing the jade, and turning into a dragon", was still widely spread, and also reached the ears of the officials of the imperial court who were on the southern tour of Sichuan and Shu. These ministers denounced Ye Mingsheng's wolfish ambitions, and some even proposed to dismiss Ye Mingsheng from his positions as the governor of Liaoyang and the commander of the Fengwu Army. However, this idea was abandoned because the people of the imperial court who were on the southern tour later wanted Ye Mingsheng to go west and help them deal with Shangguan Hongyuan.

Although these things had no impact on Ye Mingsheng's military operations in Youyan, he lost a lot of points in terms of righteousness. Of course, this was also largely related to the fact that Ye Mingsheng had only been rising for a short time and had no foundation in the court. But if he could do it again, Ye Mingsheng would still make the same choice. After all, military success is the foundation and everything else is relatively secondary!
It was precisely because he did not have a good reputation among the imperial court during the southern tour that Ye Mingsheng still held the title of Liaoyang Governor-General and actually ruled most of Youyan's territory. He did not ask the imperial court for the title of Youyan Jiedushi or something like that.
Now that Murong Hui, as the envoy of the Murong family, had spoken such words to him in front of him, there was no doubt that he was making a political promise to him on behalf of Murong Lun. Given Murong Lun's status and position, he would never make such a promise easily if he was not very sure!

Although the title of Governor-General of Yan and Liao had no influence on Ye Mingsheng's military operations, the Great Zhou Dynasty had lasted for more than 300 years and, despite the turmoil in recent years, it could come to an end at any time.

But as the saying goes, even a broken ship still has 3,000 nails, there are still many loyal and patriotic people in the Great Zhou. Therefore, if Ye Mingsheng can get the title of the so-called Governor-General of Yan and Liao and get the endorsement of the Great Zhou court, he can get rid of the embarrassment of ruling Youyan as the Liaoyang governor. This will be of great benefit to Ye Mingsheng in maintaining the stability of Youyan, calming people's hearts and establishing a new order!
Ye Mingsheng nodded to Murong Hui with interest and said:
"I am flattered to be recognized by the Minister. If this is successful, I will definitely reward you handsomely!"

"You are too polite, sir. My father is the Minister of the Great Zhou Dynasty, so naturally he has to recommend talents to the emperor!" Murong Hui said very modestly:
Murong Hui was also very happy about Ye Mingsheng’s statement. Although their Murong family had a deep foundation in the court, Ye Mingsheng was known for his wolfish ambitions in the court during the southern tour. Therefore, to promote this matter and let the Great Zhou court endorse Ye Mingsheng and appoint Ye Mingsheng as the Governor-General of Yan and Liao was also a very difficult task...

If they want to make this happen, the Murong family will need to mobilize the relationships and connections accumulated over generations, and may even have to make some exchanges of interests. They made such a great effort, on the one hand, to show Ye Mingsheng the strength of their Murong family, and on the other hand, to pave the way for what's to come!
After accepting the big gift package from the Murong family, the atmosphere between Ye Mingsheng and Murong Hui became more harmonious. After encouraging Murong Hui with a few words, Ye Mingsheng ended this fruitful meeting with Murong Hui within the scheduled time of one incense stick.

After asking Ye Cheng to send Murong Hui away, Ye Mingsheng wanted to take a short rest and then listen to He Jingyun's analysis of the battle situation. However, plans did not change quickly. Ye Mingsheng had just laid down on the table when he heard hurried footsteps coming from outside the door. Feeling the heavy footsteps, Ye Mingsheng realized that some emergency situation might have occurred again, so he hurriedly sat up. A few seconds later, there was a knock on the door.

Ye Mingsheng said in a deep voice:

"Enter!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Ye Cheng and Huo San walked in. Seeing the solemn look on Huo San's face, Ye Mingsheng instructed Ye Cheng:
"Go get me a cold towel and a hot towel!"

Hearing Ye Mingsheng's request, Ye Cheng bowed and said:
"Yes! My lord, I'll do it right away..."

It seemed that Ye Cheng understood that Ye Mingsheng and Huo San had something important to discuss, so he closed the door considerately after he left. Huo San, who had the opportunity to meet Ye Mingsheng face to face, did not hesitate to report to Ye Mingsheng directly:

"Sir, the secret agents we have planted in Zhuo County have sent back urgent intelligence. The Yan army entrenched in Zhuo County is frequently mobilized, and it seems that they are mobilizing for war!"

Ye Mingsheng's expression became serious after hearing this. He pondered for a moment and asked Huo San:
"I remember you told me last time that there are about 100,000 Yan troops in Zhuo County?"

In response to Ye Mingsheng's question, Huo San explained:
"Since Zhao Fuqu retreated to Zhuo County, he has been preparing for war. Currently, the Yan army in Zhuo County has a size of about 80,000 to 100,000 people. This time, according to the report from the undercover, all the Yan army in Zhuo County has been mobilized! I think Zhao Fuqu is making such a big move at this moment, and it is very likely that he wants to launch a strategic counterattack against our army on the Shunping Xinle line!"

Listening to Huo San's judgment, a fleeting gleam of light flashed in Ye Mingsheng's eyes. Before the siege, Ma Zhongjun and Gu Shouting had a total of about 10,000 troops, although the Fengwu Army won a great victory in the battles of Shunping and Xinle.

But after all, there are bound to be casualties in a war. If he remembered correctly the battle report sent by the General Staff, Ma Zhongjun now has about 6,000 people guarding Shunping City.

Gu Shouting is guarding Xinle City with about 3,000 soldiers under his command. In addition to the loss of manpower, the firearms and ammunition of both teams have been greatly consumed and need to be replenished as soon as possible. If Huo San’s judgment is correct, then Shunping and Xinle will most likely face a crazy counterattack from an enemy that is nearly ten times their number...
(End of this chapter)