Chapter 909 Cui Shao’s Thoughts!
Gu Sansi was the first to ask:
"Director Huo, what conditions did Murong Lun offer?"

Huo San shook his head and said:

“Murong Lun didn’t offer any conditions. In fact, he just arranged for someone to contact our Coordination Office and planted a secret agent in the Luoan court. Then, this secret agent passed the news to our Coordination Office…”

Hearing this answer, Zhao Han frowned slightly, and then asked:
"If that's the case, how can we be sure that this person was arranged by Murong Lun?"

Huo San replied in a deep voice:
"Although this person is not from the Murong clan, we understand that he is a trusted subordinate of Murong Lun, who specializes in helping Murong Lun deal with some shady matters. After careful analysis by our Coordination Office, we can basically confirm that this person can indeed represent Murong Lun!"

Although everyone was still a little confused about Huo San's answer, they did not want to continue asking him questions. After all, there were many taboos in intelligence work.

After a moment of silence, Gu Sansi reported to Ye Mingsheng:

"Marshal, Murong Lun has always been cunning and treacherous. After Shangguan Hongyuan's death, he was highly respected in the Luoan court and even reached a cooperation with Shangguan Changgong. It was with the support of Murong Lun that Shangguan Changgong was able to stabilize the situation in Luoan in a short period of time!"

"Murong Lun has always been very unfriendly and even very bad to our army, even though our army has won a great victory in Yun and the situation of the Luoan court is precarious!"

But I think we still need to be very cautious about Murong Lun’s actions. Be careful of this old guy Murong Lun’s cheating. He is not trustworthy..."

After hearing Gu Sansi's opinion, Ye Mingsheng looked at Zhao Han, who represented the military's opinion. Zhao Han pondered for a moment and said,
"I think Murong Lun is waiting for a good price, showing his value to our army and waiting for our army to give him a price!"

"But as far as I know, after Yang Chongqing's death, Shangguan Changgong did not trust Tang Peng and ordered Ma Chongyang to concurrently serve as the governor of Weiguan, responsible for the defense of Weiguan. As for Tang Peng, he served as Ma Chongyang's deputy. I have some doubts about Murong Lun's influence on Tang Peng and Ma Chongyang!"

Huo San hesitated for a moment and continued to introduce this question:

"In order to reduce the fear of Shangguan father and son, Murong Lun has always been very tactful in the Luoan court and almost never has any private contact with military generals!"

"But according to our understanding, after Shangguan Hongyuan's death, Murong Lun became much bolder! Not only did he have contact with Yang Chongqing, he also had close contacts with Tang Peng!"

Hearing Huo San say this, Gu Sansi couldn't help but interrupt:
"Murong Lun had contact with Yang Chongqing and Tang Peng. Didn't the Supervisory Department investigate it?"

Huo San patiently explained:
“When Shangguan Hongyuan was alive, Chen Jingyu was always cold to Shangguan Changgong in order to avoid being tabooed by Shangguan Hongyuan. As for Shangguan Changgong’s greetings, Chen Jingyu always handled them impartially and did not buy into them. For this, he offended Shangguan Changgong…

"So Chen Jingyu and Shangguan Changgong don't have a good relationship. There are even reports that Shangguan Changgong wants to replace Chen Jingyu. Chen Jingyu is not as loyal to Shangguan Changgong as he is to Shangguan Hongyuan!"

"In order to avoid being abandoned by Shangguan Changgong, Chen Jingyu and Murong Lun also had contact in private. There was an exchange of interests between him and Murong Lun!"

"According to our intelligence, Chen Jingyu reported the private contact between Murong Lun and Yang Chongqing to Shangguan Changgong, but the contact between Murong Lun and Tang Peng may not have been reported!"

"Based on the information we have so far, we at the Coordination Office believe that Murong Lun still has influence on Tang Peng, but the extent of that influence remains to be seen!"

Listening to the information provided by Huo San, everyone fell into thought again. The Murong family is the top family in the Great Zhou, and Murong Lun is also a leading figure in the Luoan court. He has a complex network of forces and many followers in the Luoan court. Given his status and position, everyone has reason to believe that he has this ability.

So now the question is, since Murong Lun has the ability to help the Fengwu Army capture Wei Pass, can the Fengwu Army believe in his determination to surrender?
While everyone was thinking about this question, Cui Shao, who had been silent, spoke up:
"Marshal, I suggest that Envoy Murong be responsible for connecting with Murong Lun..."

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone's eyes lit up and they understood the beauty of Cui Shao's suggestion. They couldn't help but admire the fact that the old man was still very experienced!
Everyone present here is a core figure of the Fengwu Army. They all understand that although Murong Yuliang was expelled from the Murong family by his elder brother Murong Lun, this was just a way for the two brothers to protect themselves. The Murong family is betting on both the Fengwu Army and the Luoan court, and their calculations are very loud.

If Murong Lun took the initiative to contact the Fengwu Army in order to wait for a good price, then the Fengwu Army's decision to let Murong Yuliang be in charge of the liaison was to test Murong Lun's determination.

If Murong Lun is really determined to abandon darkness and join the light and join the Fengwu Army, then this will naturally be a great joyous event, and will certainly speed up the process of the Fengwu Army unifying the world.

Let Murong Yuliang take charge of this matter. The two brothers will be more willing to negotiate terms. At present, the Fengwu Army is in financial difficulties, and the financial difficulties have also affected the progress of the Fengwu Army's unification of the world. If he can get Murong Lun's help, Ye Mingsheng is willing to give a good condition.

And if Murong Lun wanted to play tricks, then he had to consider one situation: whether it would implicate Murong Yuliang!

Although with Gu Sansi taking up the post of Director of the Personnel Bureau, he was regarded by the Fengwu Army as having replaced Murong Yuliang and becoming the second-in-command of the Fengwu Army’s civil service system...
However, under Murong Yuliang's rule, Hebei and Henan have gradually released their economic vitality through a series of reforms and have become the provinces with the best economic development under the rule of the Fengwu Army. Therefore, Murong Yuliang is also regarded as the third person in the civil service system, and there is a chance that he will replace Cui Shao one day!
If Murong Lun used the Fengwu Army as a trick in this matter, it would mean sacrificing his brother's political future. Therefore, Murong Lun had to think clearly whether he should do so and pay such a huge price when the Fengwu Army had an absolute advantage!
After a moment of hesitation, Ye Mingsheng decided to adopt Cui Shao's suggestion and ordered: "Call Murong Yuliang back to Yijing! At the same time, order Yuan Song's troops to continue bombarding Weiguan and put pressure on the Luoan court!"

"Yes!"

After giving the order, Ye Mingsheng adjourned the meeting and asked everyone to go home to eat and rest. Cui Shao then took the carriage back to his mansion.

After returning home, Cui Shao ordered his butler Cui Fu to heat a pot of wine and prepare some side dishes for him. Cui Fu was very surprised by this, because in his impression, Cui Shao had always been self-disciplined and never drank except for a few sips of wine during festivals.

Although he didn't know why Cui Shao suddenly wanted to drink, Cui Fu quickly asked the kitchen to cook two side dishes that Cui Shao liked, and boiled a pot of daughter's red wine and sent it to Cui Shao.

In the side room, Cui Shao drank cup after cup of wine. Although his body was very tired, his mind was very clear.
As the central envoy of the Fengwu Army, Cui Shao understood the financial difficulties of the Fengwu Army, and also understood Ye Mingsheng's wish to unify the world as soon as possible!

Therefore, he had long been thinking about how to solve the financial problems of the Fengwu Army, and the three points he raised in the Loyalty and Bravery Hall were the solutions that Cui Shao came up with!

Cui Shao was very clear that the three points he had thought clearly about were not conducive to the development of the Fengwu Army in the long run, and were of the same nature as drinking poison to quench thirst.

But money doesn’t appear out of thin air, some sacrifices must always be made!

In addition, from the perspective of personal interests, Cui Shao hopes that Ye Mingsheng will adopt his three points. After all, as these three points are implemented, while fiscal revenue will be increased, side effects will gradually become apparent, and some troubles will arise within the Fengwu Army!
As the old saying goes, when the birds are all gone, the bows are put away; when the rabbit is dead, the running dog is cooked!
Cui Shao knew his eldest nephew very well. He seemed to be entrusting him with an important task, making him the central envoy of Fengwu Army, overseeing the civil service system of Fengwu Army, and making him the prime minister of Fengwu Army, second only to the emperor in Fengwu Army!
But deep down, Ye Mingsheng didn't trust himself!
Cui Shao had never checked but he knew it clearly in his mind that among the hundreds of maids and servants in his mansion, at least ten of them were spies from the Coordination Office!
The reason why Ye Mingsheng didn't trust me but continued to use me was entirely because the Fengwu Army rose too fast, which led to the fact that although the Fengwu Army was strong...
However, the talent pool of civil servants is not perfect, and the Fengwu Army is always on the road to war, so there is a need for someone who can coordinate various departments of the government and provide various guarantees for the Fengwu Army, so that hundreds of thousands of brave soldiers can have food and wages, clothes to wear, and will not be defeated due to logistics during the war!
To be honest, Cui Shao didn't think that he was the only one who could do this job in the Fengwu Army!

In addition to him, Murong Yuliang can also do this job, but the problem is that compared to himself, Ye Mingsheng trusts Murong Yuliang less!

Although no one knows why Ye Mingsheng is so obsessed with reducing the power and influence of the aristocratic families, Ye Mingsheng's policies are like a blunt knife cutting meat, cutting at these aristocratic families one by one.

You won’t feel any particular pain from this type of knife technique at first, but as time goes by, it will become more and more painful.

So in this regard, both he and Murong Yuliang stood on the opposite side of Ye Mingsheng, but after all, he was Ye Mingsheng's uncle, so there was some blood relationship between them.

In addition, it was with the help of the Fengwu Army that the Cui family was able to get out of Liaoyang and move from being a local tyrant to the core of power in the Great Zhou. The fate of both parties has been tied together, and they all prosper together and suffer together. Therefore, the defeat of the Fengwu Army would be a disaster for the Cui family!
Murong Yuliang is completely different. He was born in the top Murong family. He has an elder brother who is the Minister of Personnel in the Luoan court. His roots are not in the Fengwu Army. I believe that as long as the benefits are big enough, he may choose to betray...
This is also the fundamental reason why Murong Yuliang was sent to Hebei and Henan to serve as the governor, away from the center, and he was appointed by Ye Mingsheng to be in charge of the center!

As for Gu Sansi, Cui Shao admitted that he was very capable and had now become one of the pillars of the Fengwu Army, but in Cui Shao's opinion he was still too young.

Although Ye Mingsheng has always supported Gu Sansi, Gu Sansi lacks the experience in coordinating and managing various departments, and he also lacks such prestige.

But the problem is that the Fengwu Army's progress on the battlefield is faster than expected. If this continues, the Fengwu Army may be able to take over the Luoan court within this year, and move south next year. Compared with the several princes in the south of the Luoan court, they are just a group of scattered sand!
Although Xu Zhaojie is a good fighter, he lacks a base. Although Lu Jianchao has a base, Jiangnan has been peaceful for a long time and lacks combat power. If they can cooperate, then they may be able to fight against the Fengwu Army, but the problem is that the contradictions and rifts between them are too deep, and it is impossible for them to truly cooperate.

Therefore, in Cui Shao's view, the Fengwu Army would be able to unify the Great Zhou in two years at the fastest and three years at the slowest. By that time, Ye Mingsheng would ascend the throne and establish a new dynasty.

Cui Shao believed that by that time, Ye Mingsheng would treat him well by giving him the title of the first prime minister of the new dynasty, and even confer him the title of Duke...

But at the same time, this also means that my value of use has been greatly reduced. At that time, I would be smart to retire and return home, cooperate with Ye Mingsheng in a sad drama, and then return to my hometown in Liaoyang with Ye Mingsheng's reluctance. In this way, I can also send my son Cui Zibo off.

Although Cui Shao has always been very carefree about power, power is easy to get but difficult to let go!

As a scholar, Cui Shao undoubtedly dreamed of taking charge of the central government and making great efforts. With the help of his family, he worked hard step by step and became the Liaoyang Censor. At that time, Cui Shao seemed to be very successful in Liaoyang, but in his heart he was unwilling to give up!

As the saying goes, success and failure are both due to Xiao He. With the help of his family power, Cui Shao became the Censor of Liaoyang. But at the same time, although the Cui family was very powerful in Liaoyang, Liaoyang was just a remote place in the Great Zhou Dynasty. There was nothing special about the Cui family outside of Liaoyang!

This means that without Ye Mingsheng and the Fengwu Army, the post of Liaoyang Censor would have been the ceiling of Cui Shao's career, and it would have been almost impossible for Cui Shao to enter the cabinet and become a prime minister!

This is also why Cui Shao, who was well-read in the books of sages, often felt that his talent was not appreciated. The emergence of the Fengwu Army completely changed his fate and made full use of what he had learned throughout his life...

(End of this chapter)