Chapter 582: The Thirteen Guardians of the Coordination Office!
“What do you think of agribusiness?”

After hesitating for a while, Murong Qingwu still asked Ye Mingsheng the question that she cared about the most and was also the question she was most looking forward to...
Because this question was very broad, Ye Mingsheng hesitated for a while before slowly answering:

"I believe that agriculture and commerce complement each other. Agriculture is still the foundation of society, but agriculture alone is not enough. The world is much bigger than you think. If you want better development, you can't close your doors to the outside world. You need to make good use of commerce to drive the development of the entire country and society!"

"I have always believed that the current problems of our Great Zhou, although there are widespread corruption in the court, constant disasters, serious land annexation and other historical reasons, the fundamental reason is the conflict between population and land. Land is always fixed, while the population is indeed constantly changing."

"During troubled times, the population declines due to wars and famines. However, during prosperous times, when the world is peaceful, the population will grow significantly. However, the land has not changed, and the grain output has not increased significantly. The people are hungry, and coupled with a series of social problems, the country will become turbulent. You can see that many dynasties throughout history have experienced prosperity and then slowly declined and then perished!"

Listening to Ye Mingsheng's story, Murong Qingwu nodded thoughtfully. After thinking for a while, she asked in confusion:

"But what does this have to do with business?"

"Of course!"

Ye Mingsheng introduced with a smile:
“If we want to break this development bottleneck of successive dynasties, there are only two ways with the current productivity development. The first is to limit population growth, and the second is to actively expand outward. There is no other way…”

"The first path is too costly and can easily arouse public resentment, making it difficult to implement in the long term. Therefore, only the second path is the fundamental solution to the contradiction between population and land!"

As soon as Ye Mingsheng finished speaking, Murong Qingwu retorted:

"To the north of our country is a vast desert, to the east is a bitter cold land, to the south is full of miasma, and to the west is also a wasteland with few oases. The people don't want to go there at all. Where should we expand to?"

In response to Murong Qingwu's question, Ye Mingsheng smiled and nodded and said:
"You're right! Our ancestors did occupy the best land in this area for us, but I just said that this world is much bigger than you think!"

"As the saying goes, all the people in the world are seeking profit. If you don't want to be involuted, then you can only expand outward and make the pie as big as possible. You just said that ordinary people don't want to go to these places, so the government needs to use policies to encourage and guide businessmen to go abroad, spread the reputation of our Celestial Empire to the world, and export the surplus population overseas, so as to divert the country's internal contradictions and reduce internal friction!"

The answer given by Ye Mingsheng could be described as shocking to Murong Qingwu now. In her past years, she had never heard such a heretical idea, but for some reason, she felt that what Ye Mingsheng said made sense...
At this moment, Ye Mingsheng was talking excitedly. Looking at Murong Qingwu who was lost in thought, he added:

"Qingwu, do you know? Science and technology are the primary productive forces!"

The essence of business is to pursue efficiency and profit, so as long as business is used reasonably, the invisible hand in the market will push science and technology forward by leaps and bounds. What I am doing now is to lay a solid foundation and establish a good atmosphere. Maybe you and I can't see that moment in the future, but I always believe that the moment when all nations worship will eventually come! "

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Hebei, Eagle City
Looking at the densely packed Henan Army soldiers outside the city, Zhu Sanshan, who was standing on the city wall, showed a trace of regret in his eyes. More than a month ago, he took advantage of the problem of unpaid wages in the Henan Army and played the local card. He successfully reduced the fighting will of the Henan Army in Yingcheng, prompted thousands of Henan Army soldiers to surrender, and successfully captured Yingcheng.

At that time, he was full of ambition and thought he had taken the first step on the road to success. In addition, the uprising armies in Hebei, Henan, Shandong and Qi regions emerged rapidly like mushrooms after a rain, making him think that Gao Zongchang's rule was in danger. So Zhu Sanshan began to feel that as long as he continued to move forward unswervingly, he would not be far from becoming a local lord like Ye Mingsheng and competing for supremacy in the world.

However, before Zhu Sanshan could store up grain and slowly declare himself king, the peasant uprising in Hebei and Henan suffered a major blow. Countless rebel soldiers were beheaded and their homes were confiscated, and the government troops also reached Yingcheng. To be honest, at the beginning, Zhu Sanshan had the opportunity to abandon Yingcheng and lead his brothers back to Dayashan. The military commander Xu Shanchang he found in the city also advised him to do so.

It was a pity that Zhu Sanshan at that time began to think that the Yu army was a paper tiger because Yingcheng was captured too smoothly. In addition, Yingcheng was his hometown. As the ancients said, if you don’t return to your hometown when you are rich and powerful, it is like walking in the night in gorgeous clothes. Therefore, Zhu Sanshan had a special feeling for this place. Therefore, he would not give up this place unless he had to, and would go back to the mountain...
Faced with the choice of whether to give up Eagle City, Zhu Sanshan chose to hold on, and he paid a heavy price for it!
At the beginning, Zhu Sanshan wanted to use the same old trick again and continue to use the problem of Henan Army's unpaid wages to hold up the hometown card and weaken their fighting will. However, this time when the troops surrounded Yingcheng, Henan Army was well prepared and paid the full amount of the start-up fee before sending out the troops. Therefore, Zhu Sanshan's strategy did not have any effect at all.

When the Henan Army completed the siege and began to attack the city, the gap between the two sides gradually emerged. Although Zhu Sanshan's men were very brave and not afraid of sacrifice, they lacked military training, firearms and armor, and they fought more by relying on their bravery. This was no problem for them to deal with bandits, but it was not enough when they encountered a well-trained army!

Although they fought very tenaciously and still failed to let the government troops retake Yingcheng, they also suffered heavy casualties under the attack of the Henan Army's mortars, thunder cannons, catapults and other heavy siege equipment.

Up to now, the number of soldiers under Zhu Sanshan has been reduced from more than 16,000 half a month ago to about 10,000. Among the remaining 10,000, more than one-third are injured, and one-fifth are seriously injured and have lost their combat capability!

Up to now, Zhu Sanshan's determination to hold on to the end has been gradually shaken. Although he is still very reluctant to leave in disgrace, he knows very well in his heart that it is only a matter of time before the city is captured. If he does not break out and stop the loss while he still has the capital in hand, he, Zhu, will be completely defeated here...

Thinking of this, Zhu Sanshan made up his mind completely. He summoned his trusted generals to discuss the specific matters of breaking out!

At the same time, in Wuhe County, a hundred miles east of Yingcheng, two men were plotting something in a courtyard in the county. "Captain, is this Zhu Sanshan a stubborn person? Why hasn't he thought about breaking out at this point? With the motley crowd under his command, if he doesn't break out, he will have no chance at all!" Ye Zhen, a flag officer of the Coordination Office, looked puzzled and said to the man in black robe in front of him:
The man in black robe is Tong Wen, one of the Thirteen Guardians of the Coordination Office. As the intelligence agency of the Fengwu Army, the Coordination Office has grown to a size of more than 2,000 people. Under the two directors and deputy directors Huo San and Wang Xuecheng, the middle-level leaders of the Coordination Office are centurions.

Because there are a total of thirteen centurions in the Coordination Office now, the outside world collectively calls these thirteen centurions the Thirteen Guardians of the Coordination Office. Tong Wen is ranked seventh among these Thirteen Guardians and is under the command of Director Huo San, who is specifically responsible for matters within Hebei and Henan.

Tong Wen frowned at his subordinates' doubts. After thinking for a while, he said in a deep voice:
"Wait a little longer! The higher-ups think so highly of Zhu Sanshan, so he must have extraordinary talents!"

Ye Zhen looked embarrassed when he heard this and said:

“But Lord Guangtaiheng’s caravan has already set out. In a few days they will reach Guangyanpo and join forces with the Qi army…”

Listening to Ye Zhen's words, Tong Wen also felt a little pressure. He thought for a while before deciding:
"In that case, you give Zhu Sanshan one last day. If he can break out, we will hand over these things to him as planned. But you should also ask Fatty Sun to be prepared. If Zhu Sanshan is trapped in Yingcheng, we will give these things to Tang Heiqi. Although his power is not as strong as Zhu Sanshan's, with our help, he can probably pose some threat to the Henan Army!"

"Yes!"

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Yijing
In a hidden forest thirty miles outside the city, the sisters Akiyama Morie and Kobayakawa Takahide met again.

"Have you found them?" Akiyama Morie asked:
"Of course!" Kobayakawa Takahide nodded and added:

"But sister, you have to think carefully. Do you really want to do it alone? You should know that I can't help you!"

Touching the sword at her waist with her delicate hands, Akiyama Morie smiled and said calmly:
"Don't worry, I'm enough!"

"I had already let go of what happened in the past and was preparing to spend the rest of my life with my husband and children, but since he still won't give in, I can only deal with these five jonin first, as a way to collect some interest from him!"

Kobayakawa Takahide, who was about to say something, felt the confidence in Akiyama Morie's words, so he could only shake his head and say:
"I forged your whereabouts, Mori Hui, and made them think you were in Yuyang. Now they are searching for you in Yuyang. But if you just leave like this, Mori Hui, your family..."

"I've arranged it, there won't be any problems!"

After saying this, Akiyama Morie got on her horse and headed towards Yuyang. Seeing that his sister had made up her mind, he knew he could not stop her. Feeling quite helpless, Kobayakawa Takahide also got on his horse and walked beside Akiyama Morie.

Three days later, the two sisters arrived at Yuyang after a short rest. Under the leadership of Kobayakawa Takahide, Akiyama Morie came to a very secluded hillside. Kobayakawa Takahide pointed to a farmyard on the hillside and said:
"That yard is their hiding place!"

Akiyama Morie took out a very delicate and small telescope from her arms and observed the situation in the farmyard. Noticing the name engraved on the telescope, Kobayakawa Takahide's eyes showed a hint of envy. She knew very well who gave this to her sister.

After a cup of tea, Akiyama Morie, who did not notice any movement in the camera, looked at her sister with some doubt and said:
"You're sure they're in there!"

"Yes! This place itself is a very secret base of the Black Dragon Society. There is a very deep cellar under the courtyard, which is also where the Black Dragon Society stores its supplies! Before going to Yijing to see you, I just met with them here!" Kobayakawa Takahide said with certainty:
At the end, Kobayakawa Takahide seemed to have thought of something and added:
"It's daytime now, they may have gone out to look for you..."

After listening to her sister's answer, Akiyama Morie temporarily put aside her doubts and nodded, then continued to observe the situation in the courtyard through the telescope in her hand.

Another two hours passed, and seeing that it was getting dark and there was still no movement in the small garden, Akiyama Morie's patience was finally exhausted. She immediately put down the telescope, displayed her lightness skills, and approached the courtyard silently. Watching her sister's movements, Kobayakawa Takahide's heart was full of hesitation. After a few seconds, she finally sighed helplessly and also followed Akiyama Morie's footsteps.

Although she was a little anxious, Akiyama Morihui did not lose her composure. When she came to the outside of the courtyard wall, Akiyama Morihui did not enter the yard directly, but quietly listened to the movements in the yard. However, after a few breaths, Akiyama Morihui's beautiful eyes were filled with puzzled doubts.

Her martial arts skills are rare in the world, and such superb martial arts also give her five senses far beyond ordinary people. Even if the opponent is the most powerful jonin in Koga, she can still sense the opponent's existence within a hundred meters. However, now she did not notice any movement in the courtyard...

(End of this chapter)