Chapter 751 A good strategy to repel the enemy!
Luoan, Shangguanfu
Qian Buli, who had just returned from Yijing, presented a letter to Shangguan Hongyuan with both hands and said very respectfully:
“My Lord Prime Minister, the traitor Ye Mingsheng refused to repent and insisted on resisting to the end, and he asked me to deliver this letter of war…”

Shangguan Hongyuan did not change his expression after hearing Qian Buli's words. He took the letter of challenge calmly. After looking at the contents written by Ye Mingsheng, Shangguan Hongyuan put it aside and asked Qian Buli again:
"Did Ye Mingsheng say anything else?"

Facing Shangguan Hongyuan's question, Qian Buli hesitated for a moment and said:
"Ye Mingsheng knows the terms of the peace agreement between the imperial court and the Golden Horde. In addition, he also invites you, the Prime Minister, to join him in the battle for the throne!"

Shangguan Hongyuan's eyes flashed with a strange look when he heard this. He did not talk more with Qian Buli about this matter, but changed the subject and asked:
"I heard that Ye Mingsheng specifically allowed you to visit their factories and farmland during your diplomatic mission to Yijing?"

Seeing Shangguan Hongyuan asking this, Qian Buli showed some helplessness on his face and said:

"Your Excellency, the Prime Minister, rather than saying that Ye Mingsheng allowed me to visit, it would be better to say that Ye Mingsheng was showing off the Fengwu Army's war potential to me!"

"What does war potential mean?" Shangguan Hongyuan became interested when he heard this new word.

Under Shangguan Hongyuan's gaze, Qian Buli organized his words and introduced:
"Master Prime Minister, this is a concept created by Ye Mingsheng. It refers to the power that can be used for war, such as population, food, firearms and the like!"

“Ye Mingsheng asked me to visit these places because he wanted to use my eyes to show the court the strength of the Fengwu Army…”

As soon as these words came out, Shangguan Hongyuan asked calmly:
"What did you see in Yi Kyoto?"

Thinking of what he had seen and heard in Yijing, Qian Buli said in a deep voice:
"The Fengwu Army bought the land back from the gentry and contracted it out to ordinary people. With their own land, the people's enthusiasm for production increased a lot, and they took better care of the land. The grain output was generally higher than before!"

In addition, the Fengwu Army has also developed something called fertilizer, and has promoted its use on a large scale in the areas controlled by the Fengwu Army. It is said that land using this fertilizer can produce 10% to 20% more food, so currently all prefectures and counties under the Fengwu Army are striving to get more fertilizer! "

Shangguan Hongyuan was immediately puzzled when he heard Qian Buli talking about this. The Supervisory Department had reported the fertilizer to him half a year ago, but he did not believe in its efficacy at the time. He just thought it was a trick of Ye Mingsheng to deceive people, and did not take it too seriously. He even asked Chen Jingyu not to report such a trick to him and waste his time.

But now Qian Buli said that fertilizer has been widely promoted and applied in the land under the rule of Fengwu Army. Could it be that fertilizer really has such a great effect?

With such doubts in mind, Shangguan Hongyuan continued to ask:

"Qian Buli, let me ask you, have you seen the effect of this fertilizer with your own eyes?"

Feeling Shangguan Hongyuan's serious gaze, Qian Buli also understood that this matter was of great importance, so he said very cautiously:
“After reporting to the Prime Minister and getting Ye Mingsheng’s order to allow me to visit, I rode my horse to all the farms and villages around Yijing. This kind of chemical fertilizer was used on all the land I saw. Compared with the farmland without chemical fertilizer, the rice ears grown in the farmland with chemical fertilizer are indeed slightly more...”

The affirmative answer from Qian Buli immediately made Shangguan Hongyuan fall into silence. Although it was still a little unbelievable, Shangguan Hongyuan had already made up his mind at this time. The court must get this fertilizer to see if it has any effect!
Food is the primary need of the people. Since ancient times, food supply has been an important factor in whether a country or a regime can achieve long-term stability!

Although Guanzhong and Sichuan, which are currently controlled by the Luoan court, are relatively prosperous areas in the Great Zhou and are also provinces with high production, due to years of war, a large number of young and strong laborers of working age have been conscripted to fight, and production labor has been done by the elderly, women, and children, which has greatly reduced production efficiency. This has also led to a significant drop in grain output.

Grain production began to decline, and the gentry and wealthy families deliberately pushed up grain prices in order to seek more profits. As a result, despite Shangguan Hongyuan's repeated orders to suppress grain prices, grain prices in Guanzhong, Sichuan, Yongliang, Yunbing and other places remained high.

The high grain prices made the common people miserable. Many people who could not make a living began to rebel, attacking the county town, killing officials and opening granaries. Although the uprising of the common people did not achieve much under the suppression of Shangguan Hongyuan, Shangguan Hongyuan was well aware that if this situation continued, then a single spark might start a prairie fire...

Recently, Shangguan Hongyuan has been thinking about how to lower the price of grain. The emergence of chemical fertilizers is undoubtedly like a pillow for him when he is dozing off. If chemical fertilizers can really increase grain production, then they are undoubtedly a good medicine for lowering grain prices.

Because he was really interested in this fertilizer, Shangguan Hongyuan asked Qian Buli about other things about the fertilizer. Only after Qian Buli told him everything he knew about the fertilizer did Shangguan Hongyuan ask about other things. Qian Buli then introduced him to the Fengwu Army's factory and told him how efficient the Fengwu Army's firearms factory was and how good the quality of the firearms it produced was.

After listening to Qian Buli's report for more than an hour, Shangguan Hongyuan let him go back to accompany his family. Shangguan Hongyuan, the Prime Minister of the Great Zhou Dynasty, who was alone in the study, recalled what Qian Buli had just said.

Although it is still hard to believe that the Fengwu Army has developed to such a point, Shangguan Hongyuan also has a glimmer of understanding. It seems that only such development can explain the rapid rise of the Fengwu Army in just a few years!
After pondering for another stick of incense, Shangguan Hongyuan took out a letter from the drawer of his desk. This letter was written to him by Wang Muzhi, the governor of Yunbing appointed by him five days ago!

The content of the letter was that Wang Muzhi reported to him that another group of Fengwu troops with more than 10,000 people had entered Jinzhong City. The Fengwu troops in Jinzhong City were frequently mobilized. It was very likely that the Fengwu troops would launch a counterattack in Yunbing in the next half a month to a month...
To be honest, Shangguan Hongyuan was not surprised that Fengwu Army launched a counterattack in Yunbing direction. Although he sent Qian Buli to Yijing to negotiate a ceasefire with Ye Mingsheng, he did not have high expectations for this peace talk. He just wanted to show Ye Mingsheng that he was willing to negotiate. Shangguan Hongyuan, who had been a soldier all his life, knew very well that peace could not be begged. Only by hurting Fengwu Army and Ye Mingsheng could peace really come!
Therefore, Shangguan Hongyuan has been urging Wang Muzhi to prepare for war in Yunbing and paying attention to all developments on the battlefield in Yunbing!
And the letter written by Wang Muzhi in his hand at this moment was the strategy written by Wang Muzhi for him to defend against the enemy!

Wang Muzhi believed that compared with his own side, the Fengwu Army had an absolute advantage in both the quantity and quality of artillery, and also had a certain advantage in cavalry. Therefore, according to the Fengwu Army's usual tactics, this counterattack would definitely be a cavalry blockade and artillery coverage.

Use the high-speed mobility of the cavalry to cut off the connection between the cities, leaving each city isolated and helpless, and then use the absolute artillery advantage to pry open the cities one by one!

Facing such a tactic, Wang Muzhi told Shangguan Hongyuan frankly that it would be difficult to stop them in the Yunbing area. The five county towns outside Jinzhong were not strong cities. Under the artillery bombardment of the Fengwu Army, it would be difficult for them to hold out for too long. Therefore, if all five cities were defended, it would be very likely that none of the five cities would be able to be defended...

Therefore, Wang Muzhi suggested to Shangguan Hongyuan that he should voluntarily give up some cities, forcing the Fengwu Army to split up and lengthen its supply lines. Wang Muzhi believed that judging from past battles, the Fengwu Army was extremely dependent on firearms in combat, and without powerful firearms, the Fengwu Army would not be as strong!

The biggest weakness of the Fengwu Army's tactics is supply. According to the Fengwu Army's artillery coverage, the consumption of artillery shells and gunpowder is very high, and supplies have to be transported from the rear to the front line almost every day. Therefore, if the Fengwu Army's supply line is lengthened, our side will have more opportunities to attack the supply line.

As long as the supply to the rear of the Fengwu Army was cut off, Wang Muzhi would be confident of defeating the Fengwu Army. Therefore, Wang Muzhi asked Shangguan Hongyuan to allow him to abandon two or three counties to lengthen the supply line of the Fengwu Army.

Shangguan Hongyuan has been very conflicted about Wang Muzhi's request these days. As a veteran who has fought on the battlefield, he believes that Wang Muzhi's opinion makes sense, and this is currently the only feasible way to weaken the firepower advantage of the Fengwu Army!

However, as the Prime Minister of the Great Zhou Dynasty who was in charge of the overall situation, Shangguan Hongyuan had to look at the whole picture. Although he tried his best to publicize the fact that the imperial court had defeated the Fengwu Army in the battle of Hebei and Henan, annihilated tens of thousands of Fengwu Army, captured thousands of Fengwu Army soldiers, and captured five county towns and returned victoriously!
However, those officials in the imperial court were all cunning and treacherous. Although they were boasting about this great victory on the surface, in fact, everyone knew that Shangguan Hongyuan was just bragging. This battle between Hebei and Henan was a complete failure strategically. Therefore, the imperial court, which was already undercurrent, was undoubtedly even more panic-stricken...

Against this backdrop, coupled with the humiliating agreement signed with the Golden Horde and the endless peasant uprisings in various places, all of these made Shangguan Hongyuan exhausted. At this moment, he was doing his best to maintain the operation of the entire Luoan court.

At this moment, Shangguan Hongyuan hoped most that his trusted and beloved general Wang Muzhi could deal a head-on blow to the Fengwu Army on the Yunbing battlefield. Only when the news of such a great victory was reported back could the confidence of the civil and military officials of the court be boosted and those who were ready to make moves would be deterred.

But now Wang Muzhi's battle plan actually proposed to voluntarily give up two or three county towns and hand them over to the Fengwu Army.

Although this may be a good move in military terms, it is definitely a bad move in politics. Shangguan Hongyuan can imagine that if this news gets back to Luoan, the already precarious court will undoubtedly become even more turbulent, and even the balance he has been working hard to maintain may be broken!
Therefore, Shangguan Hongyuan was very conflicted about whether he should take the risk and let Wang Muzhi take a bold try in Yunbing. Before listening to Qian Buli's report, Shangguan Hongyuan was still very conservative and thought it would be better to be cautious and proceed step by step!
But now, after listening to Qian Buli’s report and seeing the huge gap in war potential between the Luoan court and the Fengwu Army, Shangguan Hongyuan realized that he must use unexpected tactics to defeat the Fengwu Army, otherwise there would be no hope. So instead of waiting to die passively, it is better to give it a try...

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Liaoyang, Dongning

In a luxurious three-story mansion, an old man who was dressed elegantly but looked like a monkey in a crown was constantly looking for his lost youth in a maid.

This man is named Ye Sanwu and is an elder of the Ye clan. A few years ago, he was still a small landlord with two acres of land. However, with the rise of Ye Mingsheng, he, as an elder of the Ye clan, also became a master and lived in this luxurious mansion that he could not afford in his entire life.

The young maidservant, who was in her twenties, although very much resisted Ye Sanwu's actions in her heart, did not dare to resist and could only close her eyes and prepare to pretend that she had been bitten by a dog.

Just as Ye Sanwu was about to pick up his old gun and charge into battle, the butler's voice came from outside the door.

"Master, Ye Zhanpeng is here to visit you!"

At this moment, Ye Sanwu had no time to care about other people. He was very annoyed and roared:

"Tell him to get out of here!"

After half a cup of tea, the maid ran out of the room. Seeing this, the housekeeper walked into the room. Ye Sanwu was lying on the bed, savoring the taste of youth. Seeing the housekeeper walk into the room, Ye Sanwu immediately said impatiently:
"What else is there?"

The butler said cautiously:
"Master, Ye Zhanpeng said he has something urgent to discuss with you..."

(End of this chapter)