Chapter 841 The secret of the Ye Mansion!

Jinyang, Governor's Office

Wang Muzhi, with a frown on his face, looked at the thick stack of memorials in front of him and couldn't help but sigh deeply...
Although he did not open the memorials in front of him, Wang Muzhi could guess most of their contents!

Since July last year, the Yunbing Army under his command has not received any military pay, and to date, the military pay has been in arrears for half a year!

Although wage arrears are not as fatal as food shortages, they can still have a huge impact on military morale over time!

Now that the war is imminent, the Fengwu Army may launch a large-scale operation at any time. If this matter cannot be effectively resolved, it will greatly affect the combat effectiveness of the Yunbing Army!
Although he still owes wages to tens of thousands of soldiers, Wang Muzhi feels that he has done his best and has a clear conscience!
When he first took over as Governor of Yunbing, the Yunbing army not only owed wages, but also lacked food!

The Yunbingjun brothers could still endure the arrears of wages, but they all had families, parents, wives and children behind them. These people were waiting for food with their mouths open. They would be hungry if they didn't eat for a meal, and they would starve to death if they didn't eat for a few days.

Therefore, when Wang Mu took office, he not only had to face the strong military pressure from the Fengwu Army, but also had to face sharp internal conflicts.

According to the normal process, as the governor of Yunbing and the top leader of military and political affairs in Yunbing, Wang Muzhi should collect taxes from various prefectures and counties in Yunbing to feed the army and pay the army...
However, years of war had already severely damaged the Yunbing region. Yunbing's financial and taxation system had basically collapsed. Basically, everything that could be plundered in the local area had been plundered, and the people were overwhelmed.

In addition, merchants from all over the country hoarded goods in pursuit of high profits, which led to rising prices of essential supplies such as food, salt, and cloth. The price increased threefold in just one year.

Under such severe exploitation, the people of Yunbing heard that the Fengwu Army was dividing land in Jinzhong, so many of them became refugees and fled to Jinzhong with their families to seek a way to survive. In just one year, nearly 100,000 people left the area around Jinyang.

Although all prefectures and counties have taken various measures to organize such behavior, the hearts of the people are always pursuing a better life.

Faced with such a mess, Wang Muzhi was helpless, but who made him take over the position of Governor of Yunbing? So he could only take it step by step. He pondered for a long time and wrote a personal letter to Shangguan Hongyuan. In his heart, he explained the pros and cons to Shangguan Hongyuan and told him about the difficult situation of Yunbing.

As for the current suffering, Wang Muzhi also provided a solution!
In short, this plan is to copy Fengwu Army’s homework!

Wang Muzhi believed that most of Yunbing’s wealth and land were in the hands of these powerful gentry in Yunbing, and they evaded taxes on a large scale through various means, or even did not pay taxes. This was the fundamental reason for Yunbing’s financial collapse...

Therefore, Wang Muzhi also planned to follow Ye Mingsheng's example and take action against these powerful gentry, putting the sword in his hand on their necks, forcing these powerful gentry to spit out the profits and return them to the public, strengthen industry supervision, and stabilize prices!
Wang Muzhi believed that only in this way could Yunbing be put on the right track and become a solid fortress for the court to resist the attack of the Fengwu Army. There was no other way!

Under Wang Muzhi's earnest expectation, Shangguan Hongyuan quickly wrote him a reply. In the letter, Shangguan Hongyuan warned Wang Muzhi that if he acted in a single move, the whole body would be affected, and implicitly expressed that the court now relied on these powerful gentry to support it. If Wang Muzhi took action against them, it would inevitably lead to chaos in the situation, giving the Fengwu Army an opportunity to take advantage.

Although he rejected Wang Muzhi's proposal, Shangguan Hongyuan also understood the difficulties Wang Muzhi was facing, so he asked Wang Muzhi to cooperate with Chen Jingyu. They arrested a group of officials and gentry who had no strong backing on various charges, confiscated their properties and dismissed them from their posts. All their money and property were exchanged for food. In this way, the problem of food shortage of Yunbing Army was barely solved, but the problem of unpaid wages was really beyond their ability to solve.

It was precisely because Wang Muzhi’s food shortage problem was solved that Wang Muzhi, who had no worries, was able to tenaciously resist the attack of the Fengwu Army in the Second Yunbing War and dragged the battle of Yunbing to the present time...

Although the house searches and investigations at that time solved the food shortage problem of Yunbing’s army, it did not solve the problem at the root of Yunbing’s chronic disease, so it only temporarily alleviated Yunbing’s predicament.

This year, Yunbing once again fell into the predicament of food and salary shortage. Because the solution he provided was directly rejected by Shangguan Hongyuan, Wang Muzhi could only report the problem to Shangguan Hongyuan, hoping that Shangguan Hongyuan could give him a solution.

Shangguan Hongyuan was also helpless about this, but considering that Yunbing was the barrier of Guanzhong, if Yunbing was lost, Guanzhong would be shaken and the Luoan court would be in danger of overthrow, so he could only grit his teeth and tear down the east wall to block the west wall, and he raised some food for Wang Muzhi and expressed that he would continue to supply food to Yunbing in the future.

Although he solved the food problem for Wang Muzhi, Shangguan Hongyuan directly rejected Wang Muzhi's request for military pay.

Among the territories now controlled by the Luoan court, Yongliang is in an even worse situation than Yunbing, and the interests of Guanzhong are divided up among the powerful families in Guanzhong. Although the court can collect some taxes, it can only be said to be better than nothing. The current Luoan court relies on the continuous blood transfusion from the Sichuan-Shu region to maintain its operation.

Taxes in Sichuan and Shu regions have generally been collected many years in advance, but even so, it is only enough to pay the salaries of the imperial guards. Providing food to the Yunbing Army, which is supported by the stepmother, is already a tough task. With gritted teeth and stamped feet, there is absolutely no ability to provide them with salaries anymore...

Faced with this situation, Wang Muzhi was in a dilemma. In order to raise food last year, he had killed all the officials and gentry who had no powerful backers. Now the only ones left all had powerful backers. Although the current problem could be solved if he touched them, Shangguan Hongyuan would not let him do it!

The problem of wage arrears is becoming more and more serious, and the soldiers are generally complaining. You don't solve the problem for me, and you don't let me solve it myself. So what should we do about this problem?
Wang Muzhi's head was overwhelmed when he thought of this. He couldn't understand why the Prime Minister Shangguan, who was full of vigor, decisiveness and his word, had become so hesitant and fearful now?
Just as Wang Muzhi was sighing in his study, not knowing how to solve the problem, a lieutenant general hurried into the room and reported to Wang Muzhi:

"Governor, urgent report from the front line. Xun Ke personally led the Third Division of the Fengwu Army to attack Lujialing. The Fengwu Army used more than fifty heavy artillery pieces. The defenders of Lujialing suffered heavy losses and sent a signal for help to the outside world!"

Upon hearing the news, Wang Muzhi's eyes suddenly flashed coldly. Then he took two steps at a time and came to the sand table. His eyes quickly locked onto the coordinates of Lujialing on the sand table.

After a little thought, Wang Muzhi understood the combat purpose of the Fengwu Army. After pondering for a moment, he shook his head reluctantly.

Seeing this, the lieutenant general was puzzled about what Wang Muzhi was thinking. After hesitating for a moment, he asked:

"Governor, are you going to order the garrisons of Heyi County and Wenshan County to rush to Lujialing to help?" Wang Muzhi said with some melancholy.

“It’s too late…”

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Yijing, Ye Mansion

Looking at Pei Zhixiu's departing back, An Miaoyi's eyes gradually became profound. After a moment, Qiqige, who had sent Pei Zhixiu away, returned to An Miaoyi's side.

Picking up the teacup and taking a sip, An Miaoyi asked calmly:

"Why do you think Pei Zhixiu came here today?"

Qiqige hesitated for a moment but still said tentatively:

"Ma'am, is she asking for Xiao Huan's help?"

An Miaoyi nodded and said with emotion:
"This woman, Pei Zhixiu, is smarter than I thought. It seems that she has long realized that Xiaohuan has planted a chess piece next to her, but she has always pretended not to know!"

Hearing An Miaoyi's words, Qiqige immediately bowed and said with great shame:

"It is my fault for not doing my job well! Please punish me, Madam!"

An Miaoyi shook her head and said:

"This isn't your fault, Qiqige. It's a bit difficult for you to deal with Pei Zhixiu!"

Listening to An Miaoyi’s words, Qiqige lowered her head even more, but she had the same feeling in her heart. The more she came into contact with Pei Zhixiu, the more she could feel Pei Zhixiu’s unfathomable nature. Especially when she looked into Pei Zhixiu’s eyes, she had a horrible feeling that her life no longer belonged to her...

This made Qiqige curious. Ye Mingsheng clearly knew something but he always doted on Pei Zhixiu. Wasn't he afraid?

Just as Qiqige was daydreaming, An Miaoyi spoke with emotion:
"Compared to Pei Zhixiu's discovery that Xiaohuan was a pawn, I was even more surprised that Pei Zhixiu actually cared about Xiaohuan's life. Logically speaking, shouldn't someone like her treat human life as worthless?"

"He actually came all the way to me just for Xiaohuan's life and warned me not to harm anyone around her. This is really interesting!"

Thinking of this, a slightly playful smile appeared on An Miaoyi's beautiful face.

As early as when she first married Ye Mingsheng, An Miaoyi noticed Pei Zhixiu, the concubine who was favored by Ye Mingsheng. Other concubines never went out of the house for fear of being gossiped about, but Pei Zhixiu was the only one who went in and out of the mansion all day long and interacted with the patients in the clinic.

Although An Miaoyi did not object to Ye Mingsheng having other women, as the eldest wife, she hoped that everything concerning the women in the backyard would be under control. Obviously, Pei Zhixiu was an uncontrollable factor, so this also made An Miaoyi think of placing a chess piece next to her to monitor her every move.

So An Miaoyi used a little trick to control Xiaohuan, Pei Zhixiu's personal maid, and made her the one who secretly monitors Pei Zhixiu...

Everything was going smoothly. Xiaohuan would send news on time, even including what happened between Ye Mingsheng and Pei Zhixiu in bed.

However, just five days ago, Xiaohuan suddenly came to report that she might have been exposed, and asked An Miaoyi to give her a way out. After careful questioning, Qiqige realized that Xiaohuan guessed that Ye Mingsheng might have known her true identity based on his coldness towards her, so she was afraid and didn't want to continue.

Because it involved Ye Mingsheng, Qiqige did not dare to delay and immediately reported the matter to An Miaoyi.

An Miaoyi would rather believe it than not, so she decided to solve the problem once and for all by creating an accident to make Xiaohuan shut up forever. Things were originally going well. Xiaohuan was thrown into a well and was almost drowned, but this girl was lucky and had a long life. While she was struggling in the well, she was heard by patrolling soldiers from the Royal Guard Battalion and rescued.

Pei Zhixiu was also very angry about this matter. Although she knew that Xiaohuan was An Miaoyi’s ghost a long time ago, in order to make An Miaoyi feel at ease, Pei Zhixiu pretended not to know. In addition, Xiaohuan was also very talented in medical skills, so Pei Zhixiu entrusted her with important tasks and treated her as an important assistant. The relationship between master and servant was very good·························
However, after An Miaoyi realized that Xiaohuan was exposed, she actually wanted to kill Xiaohuan to silence her, which made Pei Zhixiu very angry.

Pei Zhixiu believes that no matter what, Xiaohuan is her personal maid and should be left to her to deal with. Although you, An Miaoyi, are the eldest lady, you are overreaching!
And if she turns a blind eye to Xiaohuan’s murder today, will An Miaoyi dare to attack her own son Jingxuan next time?

Thinking of this, Pei Zhixiu also felt that she should talk to An Miaoyi and let An Miaoyi understand that although she didn't want to provoke her, she was not afraid of you!

After expressing his attitude to An Miaoyi, Pei Zhixiu also proposed a solution to this matter. Xiaohuan fell into the water because of her own mistake and it had nothing to do with other people. Xiaohuan will live in Changshan Medical Clinic in the future and will never appear in Ye Mansion in this life.

If other female relatives were negotiating conditions with her, An Miaoyi would naturally disdain them, but she would also take Pei Zhixiu's words seriously, so after weighing the pros and cons, An Miaoyi agreed to Pei Zhixiu's conditions, saying that if Xiaohuan could do the above points, she could continue to live·································
(End of this chapter)