Chapter 825 Staff Meeting!

After Huo San finished speaking, the expressions of everyone in the conference room changed. Ye Mingsheng pondered for a while and asked:
"But is there any evidence?"

Huo San hesitated for a moment, but still shook his head with some regret and said:

"I'm sorry, sir. Luoan's secret agents are working hard to collect intelligence, but there is no evidence to support it yet..."

After hearing Huo San's answer, Ye Mingsheng didn't say anything on the surface, but nodded secretly in his heart.

Shangguan Hongyuan was over 60 years old and had fought in many battles in his early years, suffering many injuries, so it was no secret that he was in poor health. Many people estimated that he would die in the next two years. That was why when the news of Shangguan Hongyuan's critical illness came out, Luo An's gang rushed in without much doubt.

Ye Mingsheng was surprised but also a little suspicious that Shangguan Hongyuan had set up such a big plan this time.

According to the news from Luoan, this time, under the pretext of eliminating rebellion, Shangguan Hongyuan followed Xu Zhaojie's example and carried out a large-scale purge in Luoan, killing nearly 10,000 people.

Such a big move seems to have swept away all the threatening opponents, but in fact it has also left deep hidden dangers and rifts within the Luoan court. These hidden dangers and rifts were not a big problem when Shangguan Hongyuan was alive. With his prestige and means, he could easily suppress them. After spending a few years to win over the hearts of the people, the Luoan court will unite more closely around him.

But if Shangguan Hongyuan passed away in the next few years and his son Shangguan Changgong took the throne, then the matter would be another matter...

Because he is Shangguan Hongyuan's only son, Shangguan Changgong was identified as Shangguan Hongyuan's successor at an early stage, and has always been the focus of attention from all sides. Everyone generally has a consistent opinion on this person. Compared with his father Shangguan Hongyuan, a warlord in troubled times, Shangguan Changgong is a modest gentleman who treats others kindly.

If Shangguan Hongyuan had conquered the world and founded a new dynasty, Shangguan Changgong would have been a very good maintainer of the status quo. Unfortunately, Shangguan Hongyuan did not do that. What Shangguan Hongyuan would have left behind was a Luoan court that was in turmoil due to internal and external troubles.

Shangguan Changgong has also been trained a lot by Shangguan Hongyuan over the years. He has served as the Shaoqing of the Dali Temple, the Prefect of Luoan Prefecture, the Vice Minister of the Ministry of War, and now he has been promoted to the Minister of War of the Luoan court, in charge of all the troops of the Luoan court.

Although the experience gained in these posts helped Shangguan Changgong accumulate rich political experience, he did not have the high political prestige, sophisticated political tactics, and ruthless style of Shangguan Hongyuan.

Therefore, many people are skeptical about whether Shangguan Changgong, a modest gentleman, can control the treacherous and cunning Luoan bureaucrats and the arrogant and powerful generals of the imperial guards after he comes to power.

So Ye Mingsheng was also puzzled. If the news of Shangguan Hongyuan's critical illness was false, Shangguan Hongyuan could still live for a few more years. He should not use such drastic measures to deepen the internal contradictions of the Luoan court. He should take his time and create a stable and harmonious succession environment for Shangguan Changgong as much as possible...
And what Huo San said just now also made Ye Mingsheng realize a possibility. Is there a possibility that although Shangguan Hongyuan set a trap for Shi Huairen and others to lure them to death, the critically ill bait thrown by Shangguan Hongyuan was real, so he was so eager to eliminate these factors that could threaten Shangguan Changgong's succession?
Although Huo San said that there was no evidence to prove this possibility, Ye Mingsheng believed that this just proved this point to a certain extent. This matter must be a highly confidential matter of the Luoan court. Although the secret line of the Coordination Office was good, if the evidence was found so quickly, it would be worthy of suspicion!
After thinking for a while, Ye Mingsheng instructed Huo San:
"Send a message to your secret agents, and have them collect as much evidence as possible while remaining cautious!"

"Yes!"

Hearing Ye Mingsheng's words, Huo San was delighted, he knew that he had made the right bet. As for this information, because of the previous intelligence errors and the lack of evidence to support it, some of his trusted subordinates thought that they should take a long-term view and should not report it to Ye Mingsheng again so soon.

Huo San was also very clear about his subordinates' concerns. Because of Jiang Kuang's incident, the Marshal had doubts about his work ability. Moreover, although they had temporarily reached a cooperation with Ji Xian, it was only temporary. Ji Xian still had the task of auditing accounts assigned to him by his superiors...

After removing the poisonous thorn of Jiang Kuang, Ji Xian will definitely continue to investigate the previous mess of the Coordination Office. The conflicts among them are still on the verge of breaking out.

So in this situation, we should be cautious in doing everything and not let the Marshal feel dissatisfied with us again.

Huo San, on the contrary, had a different opinion on this. Having followed Ye Mingsheng for so many years, he understood Ye Mingsheng's character. He knew that if he only sought to be cautious and not make mistakes, he would be courting death. The more critical the moment, the more he had to prove his worth to Ye Mingsheng!
That's why Huo San took a gamble and reported this news, which had no evidence to support it, to Ye Mingsheng!

And the facts proved that his bet was right. From Ye Mingsheng's instructions "while maintaining caution", Huo San felt that Ye Mingsheng might have believed the information, otherwise Ye Mingsheng would definitely ask to verify the authenticity of the news with all his strength.

Without mentioning Huo San's psychological activities, after giving Huo San his instructions, Ye Mingsheng turned his gaze to Yuan Song, who was the first person on the left.

After feeling Ye Mingsheng's gaze, Yuan Song also stood out from the queue and reported to Ye Mingsheng:

“Our troops have basically completed the first phase of rest and recuperation. Ten thousand soldiers of the Second Army and the Third Division in the Yunbing battlefield have been able to go home to visit their families. Five thousand soldiers of the First Army in Jiyu and Huainan have also gone home to visit their families. These people will return to the army from their hometowns one after another in a month as planned...” “In addition, according to your instructions, we have also transferred some backbones from General Ye Tie’s Fifth Division and General Ye Dong’s Ninth Division to support the Third Division. The plan to restore the Third Division to the Third Army is also proceeding in an orderly manner. It is expected that within the next three months, the Third Army will recover most of its combat effectiveness!”

"In addition, the clean-up operation within the Fengwu Army is also proceeding as planned. Three hundred and fifty-seven military officers of various ranks have been subject to internal review, of which seventy-nine have problems to varying degrees, and fifty-one have been transferred to the military department. In the next three months, another three hundred and fifteen will be subject to internal review!"

Listening to Yuan Song's report, Ye Mingsheng nodded with satisfaction. Although the Fengwu Army had stopped its offensive during this period due to weather and its own reasons, there were still many actions within the Fengwu Army. About three months ago, Yue Qing, the commander-in-chief of the Fengwu Army, submitted a report to Ye Mingsheng on the corruption and laziness of some generals in the logistics department of the Fengwu Army.

Because guns are the foundation for maintaining the Fengwu Army's regime and the basis for its external expansion, Ye Mingsheng attached great importance to this report. After carefully reading the contents of the report, Ye Mingsheng also ordered Yue Qing to conduct a thorough investigation.

Yue Qing's investigation was very quick, and he soon submitted more details about the case to Ye Mingsheng. After reading these details carefully, Ye Mingsheng was angry and shocked by the situation.

Through Yue Qing’s report, he also realized that these problems were not only found in the logistics department, but were also common in the entire army...

The existence of these problems had a direct impact on the combat effectiveness of the Fengwu Army. The previous unsuccessful progress of the Fengwu Army in the Yunbing battlefield was also due to these problems. All these made Ye Mingsheng realize that he had not carried out anti-corruption operations in the army for too long, and many people had forgotten his requirements for them.

Although his practice of paying the soldiers' salaries directly through the Dadongsheng Company eliminated the possibility of ghost soldiers within the Fengwu Army, it still could not prevent certain parasites from finding ways to abuse their power and put benefits into their own pockets. In order to gain benefits for themselves, they used a variety of methods. There is nothing they cannot do, except what you can't imagine!
Therefore, Ye Mingsheng also had the idea of ​​taking advantage of the current opportunity when all the Fengwu Army units are resting and there is no fighting to carry out a large-scale internal reorganization of the Fengwu Army's subordinate units, to fully investigate the various problems that have arisen within the Fengwu Army and to eliminate the pests within the army.

Although he had this idea, Ye Mingsheng was also aware that it would not be easy to accomplish as one move would affect the entire body. Although Ye Mingsheng was confident that he could overcome resistance and fully implement his will, once a large-scale internal reorganization began, generals at all levels would inevitably feel insecure, and the combat effectiveness of each unit would certainly be affected. This was inevitable...

The large-scale rest and reorganization of the Fengwu Army during this period is in preparation for large-scale military operations after the spring. If the internal reorganization leads to a serious decline in the combat effectiveness of the troops, and the military operations go wrong, or even if a defeat occurs, the price to be paid will be too high!

As the commander-in-chief of the Fengwu Army, Ye Mingsheng had to take all these factors into consideration. After careful and repeated consideration, as well as conversations with senior generals such as He Jingyun, Yuan Song, Guo Zhiping, and a survey of the attitudes of some grassroots generals, Ye Mingsheng finally chose to believe in this army that he had created!

Ye Mingsheng ordered the military departments to launch a cleanup operation in various departments. He not only wanted to sweep out these bad apples, but also use them as a warning to others, so that they would learn from their mistakes and know that there are some things that cannot be done in the Fengwu Army!
Now Yuan Song's report also made Ye Mingsheng feel that everything was moving in the right direction. The large-scale internal reorganization did not cause chaos within the Fengwu Army, so he could rest assured.

After thinking for a while, Ye Mingsheng instructed Yuan Song:

"Order Lin Huaiwu to serve as the general of Qilu!"

As soon as these words came out, everyone in the conference room was shocked. No one could believe their ears...
Although the General of Qilu controls the troops of the entire Qilu and is a senior general in the Fengwu Army system, Lin Huaiwu is a veteran of the Fengwu Army and the earliest and most trusted general who followed the Marshal. He is now the commander-in-chief of the Yunbing battlefield and the commander of the Second Army, commanding tens of thousands of troops from the Second Army and the Third Division. Asking him to serve as the General of Qilu is undoubtedly a demotion!
Realizing this, everyone couldn't help but remember the news that came out from the military departments some time ago. The corruption problem in various units of the Fengwu Army on the Yunbing battlefield was particularly prominent, and some senior generals also had serious problems. Therefore, everyone had been speculating during this period of time which senior general on the Yunbing battlefield was found to have problems.

Some people thought it was General Xun Ke of the Third Division, some people thought it was Acting General Ye Tao of the Eighth Division, but no one suspected Lin Huaiwu. This is not to say that everyone thinks Lin Huaiwu is very clean, but everyone generally believes that although Yue Qing has always been impartial, he is not stubborn enough to dare to deal with a military leader like Lin Huaiwu.

But judging from Ye Mingsheng's current orders, everyone was wrong. Yue Qing really went to investigate Lin Huaiwu. Not only did he investigate, but he also brought down Lin Huaiwu, a confidant of the Marshal. Thinking of this, everyone felt deeply alert. Even Lin Huaiwu was caught. This time the Marshal was determined to make a major rectification...

After making the decision to transfer Lin Huaiwu, Ye Mingsheng made several major decisions in succession.

"Yuan Songyi will replace Lin Huaiwu as the commander-in-chief of the Yunbing battlefield and concurrently serve as the commander of the Second Army. Ye Tao will officially take over as the general of the Eighth Division. The Third Division will resume the Third Army organization, with Xun Ke as the commander!"

"As for Yuan Song, after you go to Yunbing, let Zhao Han take over the position of Chief of Staff!"

Hearing Ye Mingsheng's series of appointments, Yuan Song was in a very good mood and quickly bowed and agreed. Although he served as the Chief of the General Staff in the General Staff Headquarters and was nominally the second in command of the Fengwu Army, he came from a field army and knew that he was not good at the position of Chief of the General Staff, the chief steward of the Fengwu Army. Ye Mingsheng's transfer of him to this position was just a transition.

Now the world has not yet been unified, and this old man of his has yet to contribute. After Ye Mingsheng completes the adjustment in the army, he will definitely transfer him back to the front-line troops and continue to let him command troops and fight to make use of his remaining energy!
Therefore, Yuan Song, the Chief of Staff, handed all matters over to the Deputy Chief of Staff Zhao Han to handle, and he was at ease being a hands-off manager. And just as he imagined, Ye Mingsheng really asked him to come out again...

(End of this chapter)