Chapter 898 Deliberate leak!

Facing Cui Zibo's incredulous gaze, Cui Shao said with a complicated expression:
“Looking around the world, is there anything that our Marshal Ye dare not do?”

Hearing his father say this, Cui Zibo became a little anxious. He thought that Ye Mingsheng just had some sudden whim and was just looking for a county to play with, so he didn't care much. But if what Cui Shao said was true, then the taxes that their Cui family had to pay every year would at least double.

"Dad, what should we do now? We can't let the Marshal implement this tax reform!"

Cui Shao shook his head and said:

"Zi Bo, please calm down and think carefully about what else Song Haibo said to you. Is there anything more specific?"

Cui Zibo thought carefully and said:
"Song Haibo also told me some details about the tax reform, but I drank a lot of wine to get Song Haibo to talk, so I didn't remember the details!"

"Just remember what he told me, the Marshal's purpose for this tax reform is to reduce agricultural taxes and increase commercial taxes, to redistribute the people's income, to narrow the gap between the rich and the poor and to promote common prosperity!"

After listening to what Cui Zibo said, Cui Shao also felt very uncomfortable on his forehead, as if it was twisted into a "川" character.

Seeing the solemn look on his father's face, Cui Zibo hesitated for a moment before offering a suggestion:

“Dad, do you want to inform the other families about this matter? When the time comes, if we all oppose it together, there will be strength in numbers. I believe that the Marshal will definitely consider it by then, and he will most likely give up this tax reform…”

Listening to Cui Zibo's words, Cui Shao shook his head and said:

"You are too optimistic. Giving up halfway is not Ye Mingsheng's style. Moreover, the financial pressure is getting greater and greater. The interest on the four million taels of silver owed by Guangda Dongfeng Company is hundreds of thousands of taels of silver a year. What's more, we are still at war. The daily expenses of the Yunbing battlefield are 10,000 taels of silver!"

"The government has already saved all the money it can, and has almost reached its limit in saving money, so the only thing we can do now is to increase revenue!"

"And the most brilliant thing about this move is that he only chose one county to carry out this tax reform. If he ordered the tax reform to be implemented in all areas controlled by the Fengwu Army, many people would definitely stand up to oppose it, which would even shake the foundation of the Fengwu Army!"

“But if the scope of tax reform is limited to just one county, the resistance to tax reform will be much smaller!”

"As the old saying goes, a friend dies rather than a poor person. Even if everyone can guess what he is thinking, as long as it does not involve their own interests, they will not risk angering the Marshal and stand up to oppose tax reform."

“In this way, he not only tested everyone’s reaction, but also reduced the resistance to tax reform, laying the foundation for the subsequent large-scale promotion of tax reform…”

Cui Zibo heard this and said unwillingly:

"In this case, isn't this tax reform unstoppable? If this reform is promoted throughout the country, our family will have to pay tens of thousands of taels of silver more every year!"

Cui Shao shook his head and said:

"The Marshal's move is like cutting flesh with a blunt knife. He knows that his tax reform will affect the interests of many people. If he is not careful, it will ruin the good situation of the Fengwu Army!"

"So in my opinion, he won't be in a hurry to complete this tax reform in one go. He will gradually promote this reform. This may take several years or even more than ten years, so for the time being, the impact on our family may not be that big!"

"As for what will happen in the next few years, or even a dozen years, no one can predict for sure. You should know that the rise of the Fengwu Army has only happened in the past few years!"

Cui Zibo was relieved after hearing this. At this time, Cui Shao said to him:
"When you interact with Song Haibo in the future, remember to be careful and don't believe everything he says to you!"

Cui Zibo was a little puzzled when he heard this:
"Dad, what do you mean? Did he lie to me?"

In response to Cui Zibo's question, Cui Shao narrowed his eyes and said in a deep voice:
"I think what he told you is true. Judging from the Marshal's recent actions, he does want to reform the tax system!"

“But what he told you might not have been tricked by you…”

Cui Zibo was stunned when he heard this, and immediately understood what his father meant. He subconsciously said:
"Dad, do you mean that Song Haibo revealed this information to me on purpose?"

Cui Shao nodded seriously and said:
"The Attendants are the Marshal's closest officials, and their loyalty to the Marshal is paramount. Even though the ladies and others can get some information from the Attendants in advance, the Marshal knows all about these things, and he even acquiesces to some of them!"

"And I've met Song Haibo before. He's a very smart and capable person, and he's very cautious in his actions. He wouldn't be tricked by you into telling you so much over a drinking party. He probably revealed all this to you on purpose!"

Cui Zibo asked doubtfully after hearing this;
"Dad, what is his purpose in doing this?"

Facing his son's gaze, Cui Shao spoke with a serious expression and spoke word by word:

"Test!"

"Many of the Marshal's orders will affect the interests of many people, so they will also be opposed by many people. However, the Marshal wants to maintain the overall stability of the Fengwu Army and wants the Fengwu Army to unite and conquer the world. He does not want to create too many conflicts within the Fengwu Army!"

So he needs to test these people's bottom line, and knowing where other people's bottom line is without touching it is a very profound knowledge... "If he issues an order rashly and finally encounters strong internal opposition, he will be in a dilemma!"

"If the order is withdrawn, the prestige of the Marshal will be hit. If the order is not withdrawn, it will lead to major conflicts within the Fengwu Army, which will be detrimental to the unity and stability within the Fengwu Army, and may even affect the Fengwu Army's conquest of the world!"

"So the Marshal will intentionally use the Attendant Department to occasionally release some groundless news on some key issues to test everyone's reaction. If the opposition is strong, the matter will be reconsidered. If the reaction is not too intense, the matter will be implemented!"

After hearing what his father said, Cui Zibo suddenly realized and said:
"It turns out that Song Haibo deliberately revealed the news to me. Revealing the news to me is equivalent to revealing it to you, Dad. The Marshal is testing your reaction to this matter!"

Cui Shao nodded and said:
"The most important thing when working in the Guards Department is to be absolutely loyal to the Marshal. Everything should be prioritized for the Marshal. It's normal for Song Haibo to do this!"

Cui Shao paused for a moment and then told Cui Zibo:
“Don’t point this out to me. Just be more careful when you interact with Song Haibo in the future. Song Haibo is not an ordinary person. It will help your career if you have a good relationship with him…”

Cui Zibo was a little depressed after hearing this, but he still said:
"Dad, I understand!"

"But what are you going to say to the Marshal?"

Cui Shao smiled and said:

"I am the Central Envoy of the Fengwu Army and the Director of the Political Affairs Bureau, so my only choice on this issue is to maintain a high degree of consistency with the Marshal. Apart from this, I have no other choice!"

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In a mansion in Jinyang.

Xun Ke, commander of the Third Army, was observing the dynamics in the sand table. Although the Fengwu Army learned in advance that the Cumans would invade Yunbing, they also made many arrangements to avoid great losses.

However, since entering Yunbing, these Cuman light cavalrymen have been divided into several forces, burning, killing, looting and committing all kinds of atrocities in Yunbing from different directions, causing great harm to the production and life of the people of Yunbing.

Therefore, considering the safety of the people in Yun and Bing, and the mountainous terrain around Pingyang being unsuitable for cavalry combat, Yuan Song withdrew Xun Ke and the Third Army Cavalry under Xun Ke's command back to Jinyang.
Yuan Song handed over the command of the 9th and 10th Divisions to Xun Ke, and asked Xun Ke, the deputy commander-in-chief of the Fengwu Army in Yunbing, to deal with the Cuman cavalry, stop this group of barbarians from causing damage in Yunbing and make them pay the price in blood!
As a soldier, Xun Ke obeyed Yuan Song's military order and was transferred back to Jinyang, but Xun Ke still felt very regretful.

During the Battle of Pingyang, tens of thousands of his Third Division soldiers shed blood on the battlefield. Xun Ke dreamed of avenging this blood feud with his own hands. However, after being transferred away from Pingyang, he could no longer take revenge on the Imperial Guards and Yang Chongqing!
Although it was a pity that he could not take revenge personally, as the deputy commander-in-chief Xun Ke also knew that it was equally important to deal with this group of Cuman cavalry...
This time, the Kipchaks' border raiding was different from previous times. In the past, the Kipchaks raided the border purely to get some benefits and then go back, but this time, these Kipchaks not only wanted to get some benefits, but also wanted to destroy the Fengwu Army's supply line and prevent the Fengwu Army from transporting supplies to Pingyang.

Therefore, crushing the Cumans' conspiracy and ensuring the safe and stable transportation of supplies from the rear to Pingyang is also a way to strike at the Imperial Guards and avenge our dead brothers!
If they want to deal with the Cumans' cavalry, they also need the help of cavalry. Now the Fengwu Army cavalry in the Yunbing battlefield only has more than 7,000 people under Xun Ke's command, so the task of dealing with the Cumans can only be left to Xun Ke!
After leading the cavalry to Jinyang, although Xun Ke had not completely stopped the looting of the Cuman cavalry, he did control the spread of the Cuman cavalry incident and gave these Cuman barbarians several head-on blows, thus hitting their arrogance.

Although Yuan Song's request to him was to ensure that the supply of logistical materials was not affected too much, after seeing the miserable state of the people of Yunbing after being looted by these Cumans, Xun Ke had only one thought in his mind: blood debt must be repaid with blood!
Although he really wanted to organize a large-scale combat operation to annihilate the invading Cuman cavalry on the spot, everything has its priorities!

And now the primary goal of the Fengwu Army in Yunbing is to capture Pingyang and defeat the main force of the imperial army led by Yang Chongqing...

The 9th and 10th Divisions were both battlefield reserves. Once the situation in Pingyang required it, they would immediately step up to ensure that the primary goal could be achieved. This resulted in Xun Ke having to keep an eye on the situation in Pingyang at all times, and his command of the operations was somewhat restricted and unable to fully display his abilities.

Just as Xun Ke was thinking about how to confine the Cuman cavalry to a wilderness in the north of Yunbing, Lieutenant General Lin Hui immediately came over excitedly with a battle report and said:

"Commander Xun, our army has won a great victory in Pingyang! We have killed more than 30,000 enemies and captured more than 10,000 enemies. Pingyang City has been captured by our army. The remaining enemy troops were chased by our army and fled all the way back to Weiguan!"

Hearing this, Xun Ke was immediately delighted, and then immediately took the battle report from Lin Hui. Looking at the battle report, Xun Ke's expression gradually became excited.

"Great, great! Lord Yuan really deserves to be the number one general of our Fengwu Army!"

Although he did not take revenge personally, Xun Ke felt a sense of pleasure in revenge when reading the battle report. The only thing that bothered him was that the battle report did not mention what happened to that bastard Yang Chongqing································
As for Yang Chongqing, Xun Ke hoped that he would die in the chaos, but he also hoped that he could survive so that he would have the opportunity to chop off his head with his own hands to avenge the deaths of the soldiers of the Third Division!

Soon Xun Ke put aside the confusion in his heart and shifted all his attention to the sand table. He had more important things to do!

With Yuan Song's great victory in Pingyang and the capture of Pingyang City, the factors that originally restricted Xun Ke from launching an annihilation campaign against the Cumans disappeared!
This means that Xun Ke can lead his cavalry, as well as the 9th and 10th Divisions to fight with all their might and make these Cuman bastards pay the price for what they did in Yunbing!

Looking at the sand table, Xun Ke took a deep breath, and the outline of a battle plan gradually formed in his mind. The next second, he immediately asked Lin Hui:

"Where is Zhang Xiaojie, the centurion from the Coordination Office?"

Lin Hui thought for a moment and said:
"It's in Jinyang City!"

"Bring him here!" Xun Ke ordered in a deep voice:

"Yes!"

As Lin Hui took the order and left, Xun Ke’s gaze on the sand table gradually locked onto the coordinates of a county called Shayuan County·····································

(End of this chapter)