Chapter 623 begins!

After fishing with Ye Mingsheng for a while and seeing Wang Xuecheng coming, He Jingyun also found an excuse that he had something to do at the General Staff and left.

"Marshal, three days ago, our Coordination Office, with the assistance of the Third Division, destroyed the transport team that Anqing was transporting to the Huainan front this month, killing more than 500 enemy soldiers. According to your instructions, we did not destroy these things, but distributed the food, medicine, silver, firearms, etc. to the local people!"

"Without this batch of supplies, the Anqing Army will never be able to launch a general attack on Shouchun. In addition, our General Coordination Office is planning to purge some supporters of the Anqing Army in order to create tension in the rear of the Anqing Army. In addition, we are also planning to assassinate Xu Zhaojie!" Wang Xuecheng confidently introduced to Ye Mingsheng:
Upon hearing the last word, Ye Mingsheng raised his eyebrows in surprise. He had heard about the destruction of the Anqing Army's grain transport team from the General Staff before. It was indeed a good job. The commander of the Third Division, Zheng Lin, personally led a thousand elite cavalrymen, and relying on the powerful mobility of the cavalry unit, they penetrated 500 miles into Anqing territory. With the support of intelligence from the General Coordination Office, they destroyed a batch of grain and fodder supplies that the Anqing Army had carefully prepared, and withdrew to Fengqiu before the Anqing Army counterattacked, and gave the Anqing Army a severe fight in its old nest!

The secret line report from Huainan said that Xu Zhaojie was furious and executed 25 officials and the number of implicated people reached 100. Xu Zhaojie wanted to rely on this wave of food and grass supplies to force Shouchun and capture the Huainan Prime Minister to completely occupy Huainan, but with the destruction of this batch of supplies, Xu Zhaojie's plan to force Shouchun had to be postponed for at least half a month! And this was when Xu Zhaojie ordered to take back this batch of supplies from the people...

After learning about the operation, Ye Mingsheng specifically instructed the Third Division to distribute the intercepted materials to the people instead of destroying them. This was also a conspiracy designed by Ye Mingsheng for Xu Zhaojie. Although Xu Zhaojie had almost wiped out the main force of the Huai Army through strategic deception recently and achieved a huge military victory, this could not cover up the fragility of the Anqing Army in logistics supplies, and the situation that military operations relied solely on Anqing for transfusions.

Honestly speaking, if the Anqing Army had better logistical supply, they could have taken advantage of the great victory in the Battle of Kangyin and not given Feng Keqin time to reorganize, and could have marched directly to the city and captured Shouchun City completely in one go. However, it was precisely because of the weak logistical supply that the Anqing Army's results were greatly limited.

Although Xu Zhaojie is very capable in commanding operations, he is not a god, and he cannot conjure up food, gunpowder and other supplies out of thin air, let alone teleport these supplies from hundreds of miles away. The Anqing Army's wars in recent years have been completely supported by Anqing alone.

Although the Anqing Army has achieved remarkable results in the past few years, it has turned Anqing, originally a land of plenty and prosperity, into a place of boiling public resentment. The continuous transfusion of support for the front-line war has almost exhausted Anqing's wealth. In Ye Mingsheng's view, the people of Anqing are only one spark away from rising up and resisting Xu Zhaojie's tyranny...

As the saying goes, a single spark can start a prairie fire. Ye Mingsheng is very much looking forward to the moment when Anqing becomes the next Ji-Yu. By then, he only needs to invest some money and food to add fuel to the flames, just like he did in the current Ji-Yu campaign, and he will be able to make Xu Zhaojie overwhelmed and exhausted and unable to expand!

Ye Mingsheng is unable to ignite this spark. Xu Zhaojie has to do it himself. All Ye Mingsheng can do is create such an opportunity for Xu Zhaojie!
Under Xu Zhaojie's heavy taxes and levies, the living standards of the people in Anqing plummeted. Therefore, the people were very angry about Xu Zhaojie's tyranny, but under Xu Zhaojie's powerful military suppression, they dared not speak out!

And now if Xu Zhaojie wants to take back this unexpected surprise given by the Fengwu Army, the people will be more angry than if they didn't get it. By then, the Coordination Office will spend some money secretly to fan the flames, and Ye Mingsheng's idea of ​​turning Anqing into the second Jiyu will very likely become a reality!
Of course Xu Zhaojie is not a fool. He will most likely see through Ye Mingsheng’s intention and will not fall headfirst into the trap set for him by Ye Mingsheng!
But it didn’t matter. Ye Mingsheng’s plan was an open one. Even if Xu Zhaojie finally accepted it with his nose pinched, Ye Mingsheng would not suffer any loss. The Fengwu Army distributed the looted food and supplies to the people. This undoubtedly left a good impression on the local people in Anqing and laid a foundation for the Fengwu Army’s possible march southward...
Secondly, Xu Zhaojie, who could not get food supplies, would not be able to launch a large-scale siege in a short period of time as Feng Keqin held on until the last moment. It would take at least half a month for him to accumulate a new wave of supplies and transport them to the Shouchun front line. This also achieved the combat goal set by Ye Mingsheng before.

Ye Mingsheng was very satisfied with the purpose of this operation. He also asked the General Staff to reward Zheng Lin, the commander of the Third Division, and the coordinating personnel of the Coordination Office who carried out this battle. However, what surprised Ye Mingsheng was that Wang Xuecheng actually wanted to organize an assassination operation against Xu Zhaojie!

If Ye Mingsheng remembered correctly, because he knew the grudge between him and Xu Zhaojie, Huo San organized two assassination attempts on Xu Zhaojie in order to please him and to take credit for proving his ability to do things.

Unfortunately, although Xu Zhaojie loves to play and likes beautiful women, he usually stays at home to play, or goes to the military camp where the guards are strict, making assassination very difficult. Therefore, the two assassinations organized by Huo San were solved without even entering Xu Zhaojie's side.
After two assassination attempts, seeing that it was too difficult to assassinate Xu Zhaojie, and Ye Mingsheng did not make any strict requirements on this matter, Huo San gave up and never talked about the assassination of Xu Zhaojie again. Later, Wang Xuecheng did not believe in it. He summed up the experience of Huo San's two failures and organized an assassination attempt on Xu Zhaojie. This time he was stronger and got in front of Xu Zhaojie, but still failed to hurt Xu Zhaojie.

This incident seemed to have happened half a year ago, because Wang Xuecheng had not mentioned assassinating Xu Zhaojie during this half year. Ye Mingsheng originally thought that Wang Xuecheng was also going to follow Huo San’s example and retreat when faced with difficulties. But now seeing Wang Xuecheng’s confident look, it seemed that he had some trump card…
Feeling Ye Mingsheng's attitude, Wang Xuecheng said very seriously:
"I have absorbed all the experience from the previous failed assassination attempts on Xu Zhaojie and have formulated a very detailed and comprehensive plan. This time, I will definitely kill Xu Zhaojie!"

Seeing Wang Xuecheng so confident, Ye Mingsheng thought for a moment and nodded in agreement with Wang Xuecheng's battle plan.

Although he really wanted to defeat Xu Zhaojie on the front battlefield, make him kneel at his feet and chop off his head with his own hands, Ye Mingsheng would not refuse if he could kill Xu Zhaojie now. Besides, Xu Zhaojie had previously sent cavalry to raid Zhuo County.

If the Fengwu Army had not been entangled in the affairs of Hebei, Henan, Qi and Lu, Ye Mingsheng would have settled the matter with Xu Zhaojie long ago. It would not be a bad idea to use an assassination to collect some interest. Even if Xu Zhaojie could not be killed, at least he could strike a blow to Xu Zhaojie's arrogance after the great victory in the Huainan war.

"As for the assassination of Xu Zhaojie, you can handle it yourself. I only have one thing to do, which is to ensure the safety of the Anqing Army's inner line as much as possible! Don't let them be exposed!" Looking at Wang Xuecheng, Ye Mingsheng ordered in a deep voice.
If Xu Zhaojie can be killed, then sacrificing these insiders is not impossible. However, after three consecutive failures, Ye Mingsheng does not have much confidence that Wang Xuecheng can succeed this time. Therefore, in order to prevent Wang Xuecheng from being too ambitious and causing the secret lines that the Coordination Office has spent a lot of energy and financial resources to arrange in the Anqing Army to be pulled out, Ye Mingsheng still has to emphasize the principles to him···························

"Please rest assured, Marshal! I will be sensible!" Wang Xuecheng understood what Ye Mingsheng said and quickly assured him:
After saying this, Ye Mingsheng thought for a while and asked again:

"I heard that many of the people in Yujing became tenant farmers?"

Facing Ye Mingsheng's question, Wang Xuecheng's mind worked quickly. Although Ye Mingsheng was just asking, as Ye Mingsheng's henchman, he was still very good at guessing Ye Mingsheng's intentions and realized the key to Ye Mingsheng's question. This made Wang Xuecheng a little embarrassed. The powerful people in Yujing were very good at dealing with things. After the city was broken, they gave a lot of benefits to the officials of Fengwu Army, including Wang Xuecheng's share, in the hope that they would say a few good words to Ye Mingsheng.

"The Coordination Office has already compiled the statistics of various land and property in Yujing. It is expected that the statistics will be completed in a month and submitted to you for review!" Wang Xuecheng bowed and said:

Although he received a lot of benefits, Wang Xuecheng was very clear in his mind who gave him the power and who he was a dog. Although Ye Mingsheng turned a blind eye to his secret benefits, this was based on his loyalty. If he went against Ye Mingsheng's will, he would be close to death!
Ye Mingsheng was quite satisfied with Wang Xuecheng's answer. He nodded and continued to instruct:

“When negotiating surrender, our army promised to guarantee their personal safety, but much of their property was obtained through plunder, oppression and exploitation. This is ill-gotten gains! We must take from the people and use it for the people! I have prepared houses and fields for them in Yijing and Dongning. You must let them feel my kindness…”

Listening to Ye Mingsheng's instructions, Wang Xuecheng sighed secretly, but said without any hesitation:

"I understand. I believe they are all reasonable people and will definitely be grateful for your kindness!"

･･････････
･･････････
In a house somewhere in the east city of Yijing.

An Miaoyi smiled and asked a thin young man who looked only eighteen or nineteen years old:
"Tian Yu, are you used to living here these days?"

The thin young man, An Miaoyi's younger brother, An Tianyu, nodded and said:

"Sister, they took good care of me!"

Looking at her younger brother's well-behaved appearance, An Miaoyi couldn't help but feel a little pity for him. Because of his premature birth, An Tianyu had been in poor health since childhood. He fell ill every other day and almost died several times. Although he was in poor health and often fell ill, An Tianyu was very sensible and obedient.

Although An Tianyu had never told her, An Miaoyi knew how much suffering An Tianyu, who was in poor health, would suffer when he was forced by the people of the Supervisory Department to come all the way to Yijing to find her. Although she wanted to bring An Tianyu to her side, An Miaoyi still followed her reason and did not bring An Tianyu to the Governor's Mansion. Instead, she asked Ye Cheng to find a place for An Tianyu to live in Yijing City, and then arranged for several maids to take care of him.

Although An Tianyu is her biological brother from the same father and mother, he is an adult after all. Bringing him into the mansion rashly in the absence of Ye Mingsheng is a matter that can easily be criticized. If someone is secretly fanning the flames behind the scenes, it is very likely to trigger a new storm. In view of this, An Miaoyi can only settle him outside······························
"Sister, can you send someone to pick up Ruolan?"

Yasuda Yu mustered up the courage and asked An Miaoyi with some trepidation:

"Rulan? Who is she?" An Miaoyi asked with some confusion:
"Ruolan is my wife!" An Tianyu said shyly:
After hearing An Tianyu's answer, An Miaoyi thought for a moment before speaking:
"Are you talking about Xiao Ruolan, the daughter of the Xiao family? Isn't your wedding date next year?"

Because An Tianyu was born prematurely and had a weak health, the An family asked a master to calculate his fortune when he was young. The final result was that the master asked the An family to arrange a marriage for An Tianyu in order to change his fate. Therefore, the An family found the Xiao family in Guanzhong and arranged a marriage for An Tianyu with Xiao Ruolan, the legitimate daughter of the Xiao family. It was agreed that after the girl came of age, the two sides would become relatives.

Yasuda Yu nodded and explained:
"Before, Dad was seriously ill in bed, and the Xiao family said that if Ruolan married here now, it would bring good luck to Dad, so I married Ruolan in advance!"

After saying that, An Tianyu looked at An Miaoyi expectantly and said:

“Sister, Ruolan is a good woman. Because of our family’s relationship, she has suffered a lot. I promised her that I would never let her down in this life. Can you take her in…”

(I spent a week conceiving this plot, and this chapter is officially kicked off after the introduction in the previous chapter. I hope everyone will like this plot I designed in a month!)
(End of this chapter)