Chapter 626 Extreme pressure!

In response to Ye Mingsheng's question, Gu Sansi, Su Yi's direct supervisor, nodded and said:
“After Su Yi was assassinated, his injuries were indeed very serious, but Cao Changping found a famous doctor to save him…”

After Gu Sansi finished speaking, Huo San also spoke:
"General, after the Qi army suffered a disastrous defeat in intervening in the war between Hebei and Henan, Cao Changping lost a lot of confidence. He summoned Chief Su a few days ago and wanted to make peace with our army. Chief Su also took the opportunity to learn very important information from the Qi army!"

"Oh? Tell me!"

Ye Mingsheng asked with great interest. He was not surprised that Cao Changping wanted to make peace with him. Cao Changping was also ambitious, but he was also good at forbearance. Now that the Qi army had been defeated, he had no chips to continue playing with him. In order to avoid the Fengwu army's invasion of Qi and Lu, it was normal for him to beg for peace from him.

However, the important information from Huo San was beyond Ye Mingsheng's expectations. It seemed that something he did not expect happened in Licheng!
Under Ye Mingsheng's gaze, Huo San organized his words and said:

"Sir, although Cao Changping is the inspector general of Qi and Lu, the Qi army under his command is not a monolithic entity. Han Wenbao of Bozhou, Song Peishen of Haiqu, and Ma Shanyuan of Ande all nominally obey Cao Changping's orders, but in reality, Cao Changping's influence on these places is very limited!"

“Although the Qi army claims to have 100,000 troops, according to our investigation, the peasant uprising that broke out a few years ago led to the decline of people’s livelihood in Qi and Lu, and a serious population loss. Therefore, the Qi army has only 80,000 troops at most. Among them, only about 60,000 troops that Cao Changping can really command…”

"Besides, Cao Changping has been oppressing the people to a great extent in order to expand his military forces to the south. The numerous heavy taxes have made the people breathless. Therefore, Cao Changping has lost the support of the people, and the morale of the Qi army is not very high!"

"There is a brave general under Cao Changping named Yin Biao, who is very brave and fearless in battle. He made great contributions to Cao Changping's position as the Inspector General of Qi and Lu, and even saved Cao Changping's life. Therefore, Cao Changping trusted him very much and gave him the elite troops of the Qi army to command! This man has always been proud of his achievements. He often regards himself as the number one general of the Qi army. He does not have a good relationship with his colleagues!"

"It is said that Cao Changping also considered letting Yin Biao take charge of the expedition to Hebei and Henan this time. However, considering that Yin Biao was brave in battle, he was reckless and impulsive, he finally decided to let the veteran Duan Yanfeng lead the army under Yin Biao to the expedition to Hebei and Henan!"

"Although Cao Changping also gave Yin Biao some rewards in an attempt to comfort this brave general of the Qi army, Yin Biao, who was deprived of his military power, still had complaints. He even complained about Cao Changping after drinking, saying that Cao Changping was ungrateful and that if he hadn't risked his life to save Cao Changping, Cao Changping wouldn't be where he is today!"

"Yin Biao's words soon spread throughout Licheng, making Cao Changping very embarrassed. Cao Changping just found an excuse, beat Yin Biao with a stick, and asked him to go home and reflect on his mistakes..."

"Duan Yanfeng went to the Hebei and Henan provinces this time. Most of his troops were originally from Yin Biao's army. Yin Biao had been in command of this army for six years, so there were many of Yin Biao's relatives and nephews in this army. As a result, Duan Yanfeng returned with a great defeat this time. Many of Yin Biao's relatives and nephews also died. One of his nephews and three adopted sons died at the hands of our army, and two more nephews and five adopted sons were captured by our army. So he was very resentful! He publicly scolded Duan Yanfeng, and it is said that Duan Yanfeng was so angry that he fell ill and could not get up!"

After hearing Huo San's story, Ye Mingsheng hesitated for a moment and asked:
"What do you think?"

Hearing Ye Mingsheng's question, Huo San and Gu Sansi looked at each other, and then Gu Sansi said to Ye Mingsheng:
"Marshal, do you remember what you said about extreme pressure?"

Ye Mingsheng was stunned when he heard Gu Sansi talking about this. At a banquet in Liaoyang, he had talked about this with Gu Sansi after drinking some wine. Ye Mingsheng originally regarded this as a topic of conversation, but he never thought that Gu Sansi still remembered it!
Facing Gu Sansi's gaze, Ye Mingsheng nodded and said:

"Of course I remember. What do you think?"

Facing Ye Mingsheng's question, Gu Sansi said bluntly:
"I want to put extreme pressure on Qi and Lu. Since Cao Changping wants to make peace with our army, then our army will talk to him about severely punishing war criminals and paying compensation for defeat. At the same time, we can also station troops on the border and pretend to be ready to launch a large-scale attack at any time, so as to put enough pressure on the Qi army from the outside..."
"Then, taking advantage of this opportunity, the Coordination Office will secretly fan the flames within the Qi Army, widen the rift within the Qi Army, and cause changes within the Qi Army!"

Ye Mingsheng, who had no idea about Qilu because of the casualties of the Fengwu Army, was suddenly enlightened when he heard Gu Sansi's idea. After thinking about it again and again, Ye Mingsheng glanced at Gu Sansi and Huo San in front of him and said:

"Tell me about your specific plans!"

"Before that, I want to be honest with you two. Although our army successfully captured Hebei and Henan during this battle, we suffered heavy casualties. We need several months to rest and recuperate. It is impossible for us to launch a large-scale battle this year!"

Listening to Ye Mingsheng's words, Huo San and Gu Sansi's expressions became more serious. After a few seconds of silence, Gu Sansi introduced to Ye Mingsheng:

"Marshal, our first move is to make Cao Changping hand over Duan Yanfeng. Although Duan Yanfeng is a famous veteran in the army, Cao Changping's decision to invite him out of retirement and entrust him with an important task has disrupted the balance of power in the Qi army. There were many voices of opposition in the Qi army, but they were all suppressed by Cao Changping. Duan Yanfeng returned in defeat this time with heavy losses. Many people in the Qi army stood up to accuse Duan Yanfeng, and even Cao Changping's prestige suffered a great loss!"

“Although Cao Changping is adaptable, Duan Yanfeng promoted him. If he really hands Duan Yanfeng over to our army, his reputation will be completely ruined. So he will definitely not hand Duan Yanfeng over to us, and this will undoubtedly put him under greater pressure within the Qi army…”

"The second move is to pay compensation for defeat. Our army requires Cao Changping to pay us a sum of silver. Because people's livelihood is declining and Qi and Lu are no longer prosperous as they used to be, and the Qi army has so many troops, the daily military pay has always been a problem and it is rare that they can be paid on time. Cao Changping has no good solution for this, so he can only relax the military discipline of the Qi army to appease the soldiers!" "The Qi army suffered a great defeat and suffered heavy casualties in this battle. The pension of the soldiers requires a lot of silver. Cao Changping doesn't have much silver. If our army can get a sum of compensation from it, it will inevitably lead to problems with the pension of the Qi army. The Coordination Office can take this opportunity to lead the lower-level soldiers of the Qi army to be dissatisfied with Cao Changping!"

"The third strategy is the issue of prisoners. I heard that our army has captured tens of thousands of Qi soldiers. Among them must be many Qi generals. Many of them are relatives and close friends. Therefore, our army can spread the word during the peace talks and allow the Qi army to redeem these people!"

“In this way, the generals in the Qi army will certainly ask Cao Changping to spend money to bring these people back, but Cao Changping does not have enough money to redeem these people, so this will inevitably intensify the dissatisfaction of the high-ranking generals of the Qi army towards Cao Changping, and this will give my army an opportunity to take advantage of..."

After hearing Gu Sansi's three moves, Ye Mingsheng nodded slightly, then looked at Huo San and asked:
"How do you plan to fan the flames within the Qi army?"

Huo San said without hesitation:
"General, we have already selected two points of focus in the Qi army. The first one is Sun Jing'an, the prefect of Licheng. He is the target provided to us by Director Su. According to Director Su, although Sun Jing'an is Cao Changping's brother-in-law, his wife Cao is unfaithful and has an affair with other men. She has found many male lovers and indulges in sexual pleasure all day long, which makes Sun Jing'an wear a big green hat!"

"Sun Jing'an wanted to ask Cao Changping to seek justice for him, but he didn't expect that Cao Changping couldn't control Cao. Cao continued to have fun outside and be a bride every night, making Sun Jing'an a laughing stock in the political arena of Qi and Lu! He was secretly ridiculed and mocked by countless people!"

"This incident has become a thorn in Sun Jingan's heart. Although Sun Jingan has been patient all this time, deep down in his heart he hates the Cao brothers and sisters!"

"As for the second focus, it is the Qi army general Yin Biao. Yin Biao and Sun Jingan have a very good relationship. The reason why Yin Biao defected to Cao Changping was because of Sun Jingan's matchmaking. Sun Jingan's nephew also married Yin Biao's niece! The two families are like in-laws, making the relationship even closer!"

"After Duan Yanfeng returned in defeat this time, although Cao Changping did not punish Duan Yanfeng, he also removed his military power and handed it back to Yin Biao and others. Yin Biao has been in the Qi army for many years and has a group of confidants who follow his orders. Therefore, if Sun Jingan and Yin Biao join forces, they will have a chance to kill Cao Changping!"

“Even if Cao Changping is lucky enough not to die, he will definitely carry out a large-scale purge in the Qi army, which is bound to make everyone in the Qi army feel insecure. Our Coordination Office will continue to instigate and cause the Qi army to fall into continued turmoil…”

After listening to Huo San's story, Ye Mingsheng nodded. As expected, the reason why these two people came to him in such a hurry was that their plan was very perfect. In Ye Mingsheng's opinion, if Huo San and Gu Sansi's ideas could be implemented, then Cao Changping would be a dead body in a tomb, with no way out but death!
Looking at the two of them, Ye Mingsheng asked in a deep voice:
"You two have a good plan, but what price do you plan to offer to persuade Sun Jing'an and Yin Biao to turn against us?"

Gu Sansi's expression became serious when he heard this, knowing that the key point of the matter had come, and he immediately said very seriously:
"I was a little worried at first. Whether the price we thought of before could convince Yin Biao and Sun Jing'an, but since you said that our army needs to be corrected, this matter has become simple. Our army can hand over Qi and Lu to Yin Biao and Sun Jing'an to rule as a condition, so that these two people will betray Cao Changping and surrender to our army!"

"In this way, although our army cannot actually control Qilu, we can also ensure that Qilu will not surrender to Xu Zhaojie, which reduces the pressure on our army's southern front!"

After listening to what Gu Sansi said, Ye Mingsheng carefully weighed the pros and cons. In his opinion, Gu Sansi and Huo San's ideas were still very feasible, and the most important point was that even if they failed, there would be no loss on his side. In that case, why not do it?

After figuring this out, Ye Mingsheng stopped thinking, nodded at the two of them and said:

"I'll leave this matter to you. I'm waiting for your good news!"

"Thank you for your trust, sir! I will do my best to live up to your trust!"

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Yijing, Beihuamen
A carriage, escorted by a dozen guards, slowly drove into the city gate. The soldiers in charge of guarding the city stepped forward and wanted to check it. Unexpectedly, the leader of the guards directly showed a token. Seeing this token representing the Governor's Office, the soldiers guarding the city became solemn. However, they did not dare to be careless. They immediately found the commander on duty according to the regulations, and let them pass only after the commander had checked and confirmed that there was nothing wrong.

As the carriage passed through the city gate, the enthusiastic hawking of the street vendors attracted the passengers in the carriage to lift up the curtains. A pretty woman was seen looking at the world outside the window with some curiosity. She had a typical oval face and a very delicate appearance. Her skin was as delicate and smooth as white jade. Her pair of phoenix eyes added a touch of charm to her delicate face.

Qiqige, who was in the same carriage, looked at the surprised look of the woman in front of her, and felt a sense of pride in her heart and couldn't help but say:
"Is this Miss Ruolan's first time in Yijing?"

Facing Qiqige's question, Xiao Ruolan put down the curtains in her hand, nodded gently and said:
"Well! Yijing is much more prosperous than I imagined. I've heard from my family before that Yijing is a border town that is very desolate and not even one-tenth as prosperous as Luoan. I saw it today and realized that Yijing is not like that!"

Qiqige smiled and said:
“Yijing was indeed not one-tenth as prosperous as Luoan before, but under the management of my Marshal, Yijing is now one of the few peaceful places in the world. The people do not have to endure the suffering of war, and the government has reduced taxes. The people are naturally happy and the prosperity of the Great Zhou has been restored...”

(End of this chapter)