Chapter 680 New prey?

Looking at the woman in the portrait holding a pipa and half covering her face, Ye Mingsheng couldn't help but be attracted for a few seconds······················
When Ye Mingsheng reacted, he felt somewhat dissatisfied with Zhang Zhiwen who wrote this memorial. In such a serious official document, he actually included such a portrait of himself. What was his intention?

With such doubts and dissatisfaction, Ye Mingsheng checked the contents of the last page of the memorial. According to Zhang Zhiwen's account, in the process of his implementation of reforms, the vast majority of wealthy merchants and bureaucrats chose not to cooperate, and some even adopted more extreme confrontational methods. Only the Wang family of Yujing fully supported the reforms and handed over 50% of the shares of the Yuchuntang business controlled by the family to Zhang Zhiwen.

In addition, the Wang family actively responded to the banner of disaster relief, opened the family's granary and handed over more than 100,000 shi of grain, and used the family's connections to call on more gentry and merchants to participate in the reform.

Zhang Zhiwen was very moved by the Wang family's actions. For this reason, he specially wrote a letter to Ye Mingsheng, requesting that the Wang family become the authorized distributor of Dadongsheng Trading Company in Hebei and Henan, and establish the Wang family as a model of cooperation between merchants and the Fengwu Army. In this way, more gentry and merchants would see the benefits of cooperating with the Fengwu Army and join the reforms promoted by the Fengwu Army.

The portrait that Zhang Zhiwen attached to the memorial was exactly the portrait of Wang Jiang, the current head of the Wang family!
Seeing this, Ye Mingsheng couldn't help but look at the portrait again. Her skin was as white as cream, her eyes were like peach blossoms, and her eyebrows were full of charm. If the real person was the same as the portrait, then she was indeed an intoxicating beauty...
Thinking of this, Ye Mingsheng couldn't help but frowned slightly, remembering the reputation he had heard about Zhang Zhiwen before. Many people said that he was very capable. When he was the county magistrate in Liaoyang, in just a few years he made a small county that was originally full of starving people, so that everyone could afford to eat. Moreover, this person was not greedy for money. When he was transferred to the governor's office to be in charge of land inventory work, countless people wanted to give him money and ask him to show mercy, but he refused them all!
It was precisely because of this person's advantages that Ye Mingsheng sent him to Hebei and Henan and promoted him to be the deputy governor. At the same time, Wang Ke, the current governor of Hebei and Henan, was only a stopgap measure. Once the reform of Hebei and Henan was completed, Ye Mingsheng would kick him out. Therefore, Ye Mingsheng was also examining Zhang Zhiwen's ability and character to see if he could be the governor of Hebei and Henan and the parent official of the millions of people in Hebei and Henan.
However, although Zhang Zhiwen is capable and not greedy for money, he has a despicable hobby, which is to love women. And not just ordinary beauties, but ladies from good families, especially those with dignified manners. He can't stop.
Once, a merchant offered him a redemption gift for a prostitute from a brothel, but he flatly refused it, because he disliked that although these prostitutes had pretty faces and charming manners, their red lips were tasted by thousands of people, which he, Zhang Zhiwen, felt was dirty.

Before, when Zhang Zhiwen was working in the Governor’s Office, he cheated on his subordinate’s wife. After Ye Mingsheng knew about this, although he loved Zhang Zhiwen as a rare talent and couldn’t bear to hide him, he still gave him a severe lecture, then gave some compensation to the cuckolded subordinate and transferred him out of the Governor’s Office...
With such a previous record, Zhang Zhiwen mentioned Wang Jiangshi in his memorial this time. Could it be that he had an affair with Wang Jiangshi and took this opportunity to benefit Wang Jiangshi? Did the two of them engage in a power-for-sex transaction?

Thinking of this, Ye Mingsheng's expression became serious again, and he immediately instructed Ye Cheng beside him:

"Tell the Coordination Office later to have them compile a copy of the information on the Wang family and Wang Jiang's family and send it to me tomorrow!"

"Yes!"

Ye Ben responded to Ye Mingsheng's order instinctively, but after he heard Ye Mingsheng's words clearly, he hesitated for a moment and said to Ye Mingsheng:
"Sir, I know something about this Wang Jiang! I met her more than a month ago!"

"Oh? Tell me?"

Ye Mingsheng was a little surprised when he heard this. As his attendant, Ye Cheng basically stayed by his side. How did he meet Wang Jiang who was far away in Hebei and Henan?

After receiving Ye Mingsheng's order, Ye Cheng organized his words and said:

“Sir, this Wang family was originally a prominent family in Yujing, with hundreds of hectares of fertile land in Hebei and Henan, and thousands of tenants. Fifty years ago during the reign of Emperor Taide, they had a minister of six ministries. The old man of the Wang family, Wang Zhong, who passed away last year, was also the left vice minister of the Ministry of Works. However, due to a case in the Ministry of Works in the early years of the Anhe period, he was forced to retire early and return home…”

"And now this Wang Jiang is the legal wife of Mr. Wang's only son, Wang Yingjie. She is a descendant of the royal family and is very beautiful. Because of this, there are rumors that Wang Yingjie died three years after marrying her. He died of exhaustion from her!"

"One year after Wang Jiang and Wang Yingjie got married, they had a child, but the child died before the full term. However, Wang Yingjie's concubine gave birth to a son who was adopted by Wang Jiang. This is why Wang Jiang became the head of the Wang family after Mr. Wang passed away!"

Hearing this, Ye Mingsheng couldn't help but become interested in Wang Jiang, so he took the initiative to ask Ye Cheng:
"How do you know so much about her? And how did you meet her?"

Seeing Ye Mingsheng asking this, Ye Cheng said without hesitation:
"Your Excellency, Wang's Yuchuntang is in the jade business. Their jade is the best in the whole Jiyu region, and their ornaments are all made to look lifelike. It just so happened that the old lady dreamed of a jade Buddha some time ago, so the eldest lady wanted to buy one to help her realize her dream. After Yuchuntang got the news, Wang Jiang personally brought a jade Buddha and some jade jewelry bracelets to Yijing, wanting to present them to the old lady and all the ladies!"

"But the eldest lady did not agree. She bought the jade Buddha and the jade jewelry at the market price, gave the jade Buddha to the old lady, and distributed the jade jewelry to the women in each room. I heard that the old lady loves this jade Buddha very much and worships it carefully every day!"

“It was because of this jade Buddha that I met Wang Jiang…”

At this point Ye Cheng seemed to realize something, and his voice stopped abruptly as if he was hesitating whether to continue.

Seeing his hesitation, Ye Mingsheng looked at him. Seeing this, Ye Cheng was also very distressed, because it was through him that the Su sisters were sent to Ye Mingsheng's arms, so there were some people in the Fengwu Army who were very dissatisfied with him, thinking that he had induced Ye Mingsheng to indulge in women, which caused him to receive a lot of criticism and he was considered a traitor in the Fengwu Army.

Therefore, when it comes to the most critical moment, he still has some reservations, but feeling Ye Mingsheng's gaze, Ye Cheng still chooses to tell the truth and immediately said:

"Although I have met this Wang Jiang, she was wearing a veil when she met me, so I couldn't see her true face. I could only feel her elegance and noble temperament in her every move. Being with her makes people feel happy and comfortable!"

Listening to Ye Cheng's introduction, Ye Mingsheng's expression became amused, and he became more and more interested in Wang Jiang, who had the royal blood of the Great Zhou Dynasty!

After a moment of silence, Ye Mingsheng asked:

"Is this Wang Jiang still in Yijing?" Ye Cheng shook his head and said:

“She should be gone. After selling the jade Buddha to the mansion, Wang Jiang left with her servants. However, their Yuchuntang should be opening a branch in Yijing…”

Ye Mingsheng nodded slightly and said:
"Let the Coordination Office come up with a report as soon as possible!"

"understand!"

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Chengfeng County, Zhennan Army Camp

Xu Zhaojie was looking at the sand table in front of him intently, while beside him his close follower Liu Chaohu was reporting the battle reports from the front line to him.

"Sir, the 3,000 cavalrymen of the enemy's First Army Cavalry Battalion originally stationed in Fengqiu launched a surprise attack on Huai'en County. Our army suffered heavy casualties, but Huai'en County is still in our hands. However, the enemy cavalry did not linger in Huai'en County. They killed their way to Huaiyuan County along the southern road!"

As Liu Zhaohu was talking, the soldiers beside him quickly redeployed the sand table. Looking at the position of the 3,000 cavalrymen of the Fengwu Army on the map, Xu Zhaojie showed a little appreciation on his face and said lightly:

"Back then, I didn't even know there was a person named Yuan Song in the Imperial Guards. Now it seems that he is quite courageous. He actually wants to take the initiative to attack before our army has assembled!"

Listening to what Xu Zhaojie said, Liu Chaohu nodded and said with some concern:
"It seems that Yuan Song is targeting our army's lack of cavalry and poor mobility, so he wants to use the cavalry's rapid movement to disrupt our army's deployment. If our army leaves it alone, this Fengwu Army cavalry is likely to follow the road of Huaiyuan County and directly kill to the city of Anqing to intimidate our army!"

Xu Zhaojie was also lost in thought. These 3,000 cavalrymen were neither too many nor too few. If this cavalryman was really allowed to reach the city of Anqing, although the actual impact on the city would be very limited, it would be a major blow to the Zhennan Army in terms of politics and military morale, and would make the common people and gentry doubt whether the Zhennan Army could defend Anqing...
The most fatal thing is the threat posed by this cavalry to the food supply to the front line. Once the food supply is cut off by this Fengwu Army cavalry, the situation will become very bad.

Therefore, he could not leave this cavalry alone. He must annihilate them or drive them out of Anqing. The Zhennan Army, which lacked cavalry, had only one way to achieve this goal, and that was to mobilize a large number of infantry to blockade and intercept, which would inevitably require abandoning the previous offensive deployment against Hebei and Henan!

This was undoubtedly what Yuan Song wanted to see. Xu Zhaojie had no doubt that as long as he retreated, Yuan Song would lead his troops out of Fengqiu and head straight for Anqing, and fight him in Anqing, so as to break his offensive against Hebei and Henan.

Realizing this, Xu Zhaojie also had a slight headache. Yuan Song's move was undoubtedly a conspiracy. No matter how he retreated or not, he would fall into his calculations. As the saying goes, one wrong step will lead to all wrong steps. As long as he takes a wrong step now, he will lose the initiative on the battlefield and end up running around passively and being beaten!
But if Yuan Song thought that he could control himself just like this, then he really underestimated himself, didn't he?
Thinking of this, Xu Zhaojie asked Liu Zhaohu:
"Is there any situation around here and in Yunbing?"

In response to Xu Zhaojie's question, Liu Zhaohu organized his words and introduced:
“After we gave Yin Biao five Zhengdong cannons from Qi and Lu, Yin Biao also intensified his offensive against Bohai. According to our spies in Bohai, Han Wenbao’s men suffered heavy casualties. It shouldn’t take long for Yin Biao to conquer Bohai…”

"Jiyu is the same as before. Half of the Sixth Division under Yuan Song is stationed in Yujing, and the other half is suppressing riots in various parts of Jiyu. In front of us is only the First Division of the Fengwu Army!"

"As for Yun and Bing, according to the intelligence sent two days ago, Shangguan Hongyuan has sent another 50,000 troops to Yun. Now the total strength of the Jinyang Imperial Army and the Liang Army exceeds 200,000. They plan to launch an attack on Jinzhong from Dagu County on the 20th of this month, which is three days from now, in accordance with the previous agreement with our army!"

"Ye Mingsheng also sent 50,000 soldiers from his Third Army to Yunbing. According to our intelligence, the Fengwu Army in Yijing currently only has the newly formed Seventh Division and Ninth Division with a total of more than 30,000 soldiers!"

Regarding Liu Chaohu's story, Xu Zhaojie silently calculated and asked:

"Where are Zhao Zhun's 20,000 men now?"

"Your Excellency, the news sent by General Zhao's 20,000 troops last night is that they have already passed Shouchun, and it will take about five to seven days for them to enter Anqing!"

Upon hearing this, Xu Zhaojie said with a serious face:
"Send a message to Zhao Zhun to lead his troops to Anqing within five days. In addition, our troops in Huai'en County, Huaiyuan County, and the surrounding areas of Xiaoqing Mountain should also be mobilized. We must restrict the Fengwu Army cavalry that is coming to attack to the area consisting of Anqing City, Huai'en County, and Huaiyuan County!"

"yes·······················"

(Doing a small survey, I have an idea, that is to arrange a time traveler in the protagonist's harem. What do you think of this idea? Are you looking forward to this setting?)

(End of this chapter)