Chapter 55: Making Money (Please collect! Please vote! Please invest)
Secondly, the 500,000 taels of silver allocated by Shangguan Hongyuan as the preparation cost for the Zhenwu Army, although it does not seem to be much, is still enough as the initial preparation cost for the Zhenwu Army on the premise that the Ministry of War provides military equipment.

It was enough to cover the annual military pay, food and training expenses of 30,000 officers and soldiers. With this money, and the assistance of Gongsun Heng, who was familiar with Liaoyang, the framework of the Zhenwu Army was set up.

As for the 600,000 taels of tax silver that Liaoyang would pay to the imperial court every year, Lord Shangguan Hongyuan only gave half to the Zhenwu Army, and their lives became a little tight, but they were still able to hold on.

In short, the Prime Minister has thought very carefully about the establishment of the Zhenwu Army this time. The Zhenwu Army seems to have great potential. Thinking of this, Ye Mingsheng's heart became hot, and he was looking forward to his future in the Zhenwu Army...

Although a preliminary decision has been made to join the Zhenwu Army, Ye Mingsheng cannot transfer his position whenever he wants.

Although Shen Jianzhong said a lot of inspiring words to Ye Mingsheng, he actually only suggested that Ye Mingsheng join the Zhenwu Army, and did not provide Ye Mingsheng with any method to join the Zhenwu Army!

Although his actions seemed a bit unkind, to be honest, Ye Mingsheng could understand Shen Jianzhong's approach. After all, Shen Jianzhong was now working in the Supervisory Department, and his identity could be said to be relatively sensitive. Shangguan Hongyuan, as the Prime Minister, had always been rather cautious about the fact that people in the Supervisory Department were close to the military. Therefore, in order to avoid suspicion, it was understandable that Shen Jianzhong did this.

Since Shen Jianzhong is not useful, Ye Mingsheng will have to rely on his own connections to get into the Zhenwu Army. This makes Ye Mingsheng a little troubled...
He was able to mobilize the Hu Jie Imperial Guards because Fang Jing, the fourth-rank commander of the Hu Jie Imperial Guards, was his fellow villager, both from Fengshan County.

Their Ye family had some friendship with Fang Jing's ancestors. Over the years since they came to Luoan, Ye Mingsheng had given him many gifts during the holidays, so the friendship was established and the two had a good relationship. That was why Ye Mingsheng was confident that he could use some money to bribe Fang Jing and get himself transferred to the Hujie Imperial Guards.

Apart from Fang Jing, Ye Mingsheng, who was born in Liaoyang and had no foundation in the court, was really unfamiliar with these senior military officers of the fourth rank and above in the imperial guards. Even if he wanted to bribe them with money, he didn't know who could have a say and help in this matter!

Thinking of this, Ye Mingsheng couldn't help but show some bitterness on his face. He didn't know what to do. After thinking for a moment, Ye Mingsheng seemed to have thought of something, and there was some hesitation in his eyes.

After a cup of tea, Ye Mingsheng gritted his teeth and finally made a decision. He called Ye Tie into the tent and whispered, "Give me a list of the people who are looking for you, who they want to release, what their official positions are, and how much money they are willing to pay."

After saying this, Ye Mingsheng pushed the paper and pen to Ye Tie. Ye Tie didn't ask any questions, just nodded, and immediately picked up the paper and pen and started writing at the desk. After a while, Ye Tie handed the written paper to Ye Mingsheng.

After scanning some of the contents on the white paper, Ye Mingsheng waved his hand, and Ye Tie bowed and left the tent, leaving the tent to Ye Mingsheng alone. After reading all the information on the list and writing down a few names, Ye Mingsheng calmly took out a tinder from his arms, blew it gently, and the tinder ignited an orange flame, which lit the list in Ye Mingsheng's hand that was still wet with ink and sweat.

In just a blink of an eye, the list, whose ink had not yet dried, turned into ashes, fell to the ground and mixed with the soil.

It is a turbulent time now, and the administration of the Great Zhou is no longer as clean as it was when the country was first established. Nowadays, corruption and bribery in officialdom are an open secret known to everyone. For a job transfer in the imperial guards like this, those with strong backing may just need to give a word of advice.

But for someone like Ye Mingsheng who has no one to look after him, he has to use money to find someone to do something for him. After all, others don’t know you, but with the money, everyone knows you and everyone likes you...
But where does the money come from?
Although Ye Mingsheng was a seventh-rank military officer and received a salary of over a hundred taels of silver from the court each year, which was enough for Ye Mingsheng to live on and support his several personal soldiers and several other people, the rent for the courtyard that Ye Mingsheng rented in prosperous Luoan was thirty taels of silver a year. Add to that the daily entertaining and drinking parties of his colleagues, and he really couldn't save much money.

If life had not been so tight, the original owner would not have risked being beheaded to covet those silver and gold bars, in order to get some funds for himself to operate in official circles.

Ye Mingsheng had originally intended to embezzle the 1,200 taels of silver he had asked for from Wang Kangxin, but unfortunately, man proposes, God disposes. The subsequent war in Liujing was too difficult, and the morale of the brothers was low.

Therefore, in order to stabilize the morale of the army, Ye Mingsheng could only take out all the 1,000 taels of silver and distribute them to his brothers who fought desperately for him.

Therefore, Ye Mingsheng now only had the one thousand taels of silver and thirty small yellow croakers that the original owner had embezzled in the battle of Wanfeng Prefecture. Although these things added together were not a small amount, it was probably almost two thousand taels of silver, which was enough to move him to the position of the sixth rank.

But Ye Mingsheng’s current ambition cannot be satisfied by just a sixth-rank rank!
After realizing what a golden opportunity this was for the Zhenwu Army, Ye Mingsheng had already dreamed of taking advantage of this unprecedented military exploit to attack Liujing and see if he could seize the opportunity to be promoted three levels at once and become a fifth-rank military officer.
The plan was good, but the reality was cruel. If Ye Mingsheng wanted to accomplish what he wanted, the two thousand taels of operating funds he had were not enough.

Ye Mingsheng estimated that no matter whose help he found in the end, he would need to get at least another two thousand taels of silver to be able to satisfy those officials in the Ministry of War.

Silver is a good thing and everyone likes it, but where can we get it?
Before Xiang Yuanhui came, Ye Mingsheng was afraid of Shen Jianzhong's warning, so he did not touch any property in the palace. But since Xiang Yuanhui came to the city, even if Ye Mingsheng wanted to do something evil secretly, he no longer had the opportunity.

(End of this chapter)