Chapter 808: Colluding with each other and having ulterior motives!
“Although we have resisted the joint offensive of Xu Zhaojie and Wang Dayu and saved our base camp in Hanyang, Sun Chenggong is not in a good situation at the moment. Xu Zhaojie and Wang Dayu have occupied half of Jingchu’s land. In order to change this situation, Sun Chenggong has asked for help from our army through some channels…”

Ye Mingsheng was a little surprised to hear this. If he remembered correctly, a few days ago Huo San reported to him that Sun Chenggong had asked for help from the Luoan court. Why did this guy ask him for help again? Didn't he know that he and the Luoan court were incompatible?

Thinking of this, Ye Mingsheng said:
"Didn't the Luoan court give him any assistance?"

Su Yi preached without hesitation:
"Although the Luoan court was also struggling, at Sun Chenggong's repeated request, they also allocated Sun Chenggong 100,000 taels of silver, 100,000 dan of grain, and thousands of muskets!"

"According to some news reports, Shangguan Hongyuan was still planning to send troops to Jingchu, but because many people inside felt that the financial and livelihood pressures of the Luoan court were very great and needed to recuperate for a period of time, after these voices continued to appear in the court, Shangguan Hongyuan was forced to compromise and postponed the plan to send troops for three months!"

"That's why Shangguan Hongyuan approved the provision of supplies to Sun Chenggong. Their purpose should be to help Sun Chenggong hold out. The weather is already very cold, and this battle won't last too long. Sun Chenggong only needs to hold out for half a month at most before they can send troops to help!"

"Shangguan Hongyuan thought this way, but Sun Chenggong also had some other thoughts. In order to gain the help of the Luoan court, he surrendered to Shangguan Hongyuan, but in his heart he still longed for independence..."
"So I think he asked our army for help, and he also wanted to muddy the waters and use our army to check and balance the Luoan court!"

After listening to Su Yi's ideas quietly, Ye Mingsheng thought about it for a while and agreed with his opinion. Sun Chenggong seemed to have a lot of ideas. He wanted to play the game of driving a tiger to swallow a wolf and taking advantage of the situation. However, this kind of game of dancing on the edge of a knife would lead to a complete failure if one is not careful!

It is beneficial for the Fengwu Army that Jingchu maintains its current state of chaos. The various units of the Fengwu Army are currently being renovated. As long as a few months pass and the soldiers are free from fatigue, a new war can begin.

Ye Mingsheng's original plan was that if Sun Chenggong was defeated, then in order to keep Jingchu in chaos, he might provide some help to Sun Chenggong. However, Sun Chenggong's situation is better than he expected, and he has also received help from Shangguan Hongyuan.

So in this situation, Ye Mingsheng felt that there was no need for him to get too involved in the affairs of Jingchu. After all, providing help to Sun Chenggong would require real money, and the Fengwu Army was not well off now, and there was still a gap in the money for paying New Year allowances to officials and soldiers!

Thinking of this, Ye Mingsheng said:
"Just express your support to Sun Chenggong, and don't agree to anything else!"

"Yes!"

After getting Ye Mingsheng's advice, Su Yi nodded repeatedly...
After finishing this matter, Su Yi seemed to have thought of something and reported to Ye Mingsheng:

"Sir, we have received some news from within the Zhennan Army. Because of the long attack on Hanyang, Xu Zhaojie and Wang Dayou have had a disagreement about the next step of the coalition forces. Wang Dayou wants to continue to attack Hanyang and then conquer other prefectures and counties in Jingchu, while Xu Zhaojie wants to attack other prefectures in Jingchu first and then attack Hanyang!"

After hearing this, Ye Mingsheng couldn't help but sneer on his face. It was most appropriate to describe the cooperation between Xu Zhaojie and Wang Dayu as "each having their own calculations"!

The alliance between the two of them had no friendship behind it at all. From the very beginning, they came together reluctantly because of their common interests and greed for the territory of Jingchu!

I think both Xu Zhaojie and Wang Dayou knew that the alliance between them was just a temporary measure. When Xu Zhaojie entered Huainan, he killed thousands of people in Feng Keqin's family. You must know that Feng Keqin was his relative. The key reason why Xu Zhaojie was able to lead thousands of people to stabilize Anqing was because of Feng Keqin's help.

But even so, Xu Zhaojie still stabbed Feng Keqin in the end, and killed Feng Keqin's entire family without mercy, from the 80-year-old woman to the three-year-old child. Although this move helped Xu Zhaojie stabilize the situation in Huainan and severely deter potential enemies, it also made his reputation infamous, and the words "ungrateful" were firmly imprinted on him····························
Xu Zhaojie is not a good person, and Wang Dayou is even less of a good person. They have always had a reputation for being treacherous and cunning in Jingchu. After learning that Sun Liangyu was seriously ill, he was also ready to win over people's hearts and minds, otherwise Sun Liangyu would not have taken him with him. So Wang Dayou must have thought of the possibility of letting a wolf into the house when he asked Xu Zhaojie to work together to deal with Sun Liangyu and his son.

Ye Mingsheng originally thought that before defeating Sun Chenggong, Wang Dayou and Xu Zhaojie would have a short honeymoon period, and the two would fall out after defeating Sun Chenggong.

But now it seems that Ye Mingsheng still overestimated the cooperation between these two people. Now that Sun Chenggong has not been defeated yet, the cooperation between these two people seems to be about to fall apart!
On the surface, the disagreement between Xu Zhaojie and Wang Dayu was just about whether to continue attacking Hanyang, but in fact, it was the difference in their fundamental goals!
Wang Dayu is the local boss of Jingchu. He has spent most of his life in Jingchu and has connections all over the place. He has a strong influence and prestige in Jingchu. Therefore, as long as he captures Hanyang and defeats Sun Chenggong, he can directly proclaim himself the Governor of Jingchu. As for the other prefectures and counties in Jingchu, they will automatically surrender.

At this point, Xu Zhaojie is no longer a comrade in the trenches for Wang Dayou, but has become an opponent. After all, how can one allow others to snore beside his bed?
However, Xu Zhaojie was an outsider to Jingchu and had almost no foundation. His purpose of coming to Jingchu was to expand the territory. It would be best if he could take Hanyang, but it didn't matter if he couldn't. He could capture other prefectures and counties to achieve the goal of expanding the territory.

Neither Xu Zhaojie nor Wang Dayu are fools, and they both know each other's thoughts very well. Now they have a disagreement on this issue. If nothing unexpected happens, the short-lived alliance between these two people will be declared broken!

Even a direct gunfight is possible!
And this is what Ye Mingsheng wants to see. It doesn’t matter to Ye Mingsheng who wins in the end. What matters is that the fight must be fierce!

After thinking for a while, Ye Mingsheng instructed Su Yi:

"You can stir up trouble between Wang Dayou and Xu Zhaojie in the Foreign Affairs Department. You can even make some promises to Wang Dayou. But don't be too serious. You have to strike the right balance!"

Hearing Ye Mingsheng's instructions, Su Yi nodded seriously and said:

"Marshal, I understand what you mean. Our Foreign Affairs Department will handle this issue!"

Seeing that the conversation was almost over, Ye Mingsheng encouraged him with a few words and then let him leave··················

After Su Yi left, Ye Mingsheng thought for a while and was still a little angry about Lu Jianchao's frequent increases in tariffs on the Fengwu Army. Although it has not reached Jiangnan yet, Ye Mingsheng also felt it necessary to express his dissatisfaction to Lu Jianchao in some way, which also made him feel a little afraid.

Otherwise, if things go on like this, this bastard Lu Jianchao will have no scruples in his heart and might raise tariffs again in a few months!

After thinking carefully for a while, Ye Mingsheng came up with an idea. He called Ye Cheng in and instructed:

"Ask Zhang Yunfei to count the firearm parts sold to Jiangnan, and improve the key technical content of some of them. Increase the price by 30%!"

"Yes! My lord!" When helping Jiangnan build a firearms factory, Ye Mingsheng also ordered the First Manufacturing Bureau to keep some key technologies in reserve and not hand them over without reservation. This has led to the successful construction of Jiangnan's firearms factory, and has already put into mass production weapons such as the Weiyuan gun and the Hudun cannon.

However, for some key components, the quality of the parts they made themselves did not meet the standards. In order to ensure the power of the firearms, they also needed to import additional parts from the Fengwu Army. Through this, the Fengwu Army could earn tens of thousands of taels of silver from them every month...

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Coordination Office, government office

Zhang Chengzhe came to Sun Taihai excitedly and whispered:

"Sir, I have already investigated it. Captain Ma Wei from the City Defense Department was transferred to the reserve department under the General Staff ten days ago!"

"There's news from the Censorate that the reason why Ma Qianhu was transferred was because they found him guilty of corruption, bribery, and taking human lives. Although there has been no formal investigation yet, transferring him to the reserve department is also a promotion in name only, which is a demotion in reality to reduce the negative impact of the investigation!"

"Zhao Jigang was a subordinate of Captain Ma before, but when the new Captain Cui took office, he immediately moved up to him!"

Upon hearing the news, Sun Taihai nodded slightly. This result was within his expectations. If nothing unexpected happened, this Captain Ma was the protector of Deng Gao's illegal gambling house.

After thinking for a while, Sun Taihai asked:
"Where does this Ma Wei come from?"

Regarding this question, Zhang Chengzhe thought for a while and said:
“Ma Wei was the sentry leader of the Yan Army before. After the fall of Yijing City, he revolted and joined our Fengwu Army. He was incorporated into General Gu’s Sixth Division. Later, I don’t know how he came to work in the City Defense Department. I heard that he made a lot of money in the City Defense Department over the years. He has five concubines in his family, and several mistresses…”

When he heard the keyword "Sixth Division" from the mouth, a strange look flashed in Sun Taihai's eyes. He had just found out today that Deng Gao was also a member of the Yan Army before, and later he was incorporated into the Sixth Division after the uprising. It seems that Deng Gao might have got in touch with Ma Wei when he was in the Sixth Division.

If that’s the case, does Ma Wei know that Deng Gao secretly made weapons and armor?

Just as Sun Taihai was lost in thought, a servant suddenly came in and reported:
"Captain Sun, Director Ji sent someone to look for you!"

Hearing the name Director Ji, Sun Taihai was stunned at first, and then he realized that it was Ji Xian who wanted to see him. Although he was a little confused about why Ji Xian wanted to see him, and he had no contact with him, he was his superior after all, so Sun Taihai said to Zhang Chengzhe:

"Wait for me here. I'll be back soon and have something to ask you!"

"Okay, sir!" Zhang Chengzhe nodded when he heard that.

At this time, the officer in charge of notification said:
"Captain Sun, Director Ji asked you to bring Zhang Chengzhe with you!"

After hearing this, Sun Taihai and Zhang Chengzhe were both surprised. Although they didn't know what Ji Xian meant by looking for Sun Taihai, after all, Sun Taihai was a centurion and a middle-level leader of the Coordination Office, so it was normal for Ji Xian to look for him.

However, Zhang Chengzhe was just an ordinary spy in the Coordination Office. It was a bit unreasonable for Ji Xian, the deputy director, to call him by name...
After calming down for a while, Sun Taihai asked the agent in charge of notification:
"Director Ji, did you tell us what you want to see us about?"

The officer in charge of the notification shook his head and said apologetically:

"Director Ji only asked me to come and see you two, but he didn't tell me what I wanted to do with you two."

Hearing this answer, Sun Taihai's doubtful look intensified. After thinking for a moment, he said to the officer:

"You go back first! The two of us will be there soon!"

"Please come here quickly. Director Ji is waiting for you in the office!" The officer said and left the room.

After the officer left, Sun Taihai immediately asked Zhang Chengzhe very seriously:

"Have you gotten me into trouble lately?"

Zhang Chengzhe was also very helpless after hearing this. He spread his hands and said innocently:

"My Lord, I have been very well behaved recently. At most, I took some spare ribs and prawns from the cafeteria yesterday!"

After hearing this, Sun Taihai also reprimanded:
"The department has repeatedly warned us not to take things from the cafeteria. Why are you still doing this? You'll have to write me a serious apology later!"

Although his tone was very stern, Sun Taihai was secretly relieved. Because the food in the Coordination Office was good, many people would take food from the canteen back to feed their children or to honor their parents. This matter was not a big deal, but it was not to the point where Ji Xian, the deputy director, would personally take care of it...

(End of this chapter)