Chapter 911 Wei Guan! Wei Guan!
Although Ye Ming was very surprised by Jiang Yuyan's suggestion, he thought about it carefully and felt that it seemed to be an interesting suggestion.
Although there are still millions of taels of silver in the treasury at present, it is still not enough compared with the upcoming expenditures!

Therefore, Ye Mingsheng has always been very conflicted about the matter of celebrating his mother's birthday. He also wanted to hold a grand 60th birthday party for Ye Cui, but if he really wanted to do so, even 100,000 taels of silver would be too much to stop him!

One hundred thousand taels of silver was enough to cover the maintenance expenses of his Fengwu Army regime for one month, or with another twenty or thirty thousand taels of silver, he could train an army division.

If it was just a matter of money, the problem would not be so difficult, but the problem is that I have always advocated frugality and opposed extravagance and waste.

And now we are facing financial difficulties. In order to continue the war, we have to find a way to suspend the payment of some pensions and rewards to the soldiers on the front line. If we hold this 60th birthday celebration in a grand manner, the impact will be too bad!

As the commander-in-chief of the Fengwu Army, Ye Mingsheng had to consider the consequences of this influence, so Ye Mingsheng's original idea was.

The budget for the birthday banquet is set at 15,000 taels of silver. We will try to make it as lively as possible within this scale, so that Ye Cui will be satisfied and will not have any regrets...

A few days ago, the people below also showed the plan to Ye Mingsheng. After seeing the birthday banquet plan, Ye Mingsheng felt that compared with the status of Ye Cui today, the scale of the birthday banquet was still somewhat shabby, so he added another 5,000 taels of silver from his own pocket, bringing the budget to 20,000 taels of silver.

But even so, Ye Mingsheng still felt that the effect was not very good, and he was even a little embarrassed to ask Ye Cui for this.

Ye Mingsheng understood that although Ye Cui was looking forward to her 60th birthday, she would definitely accept it with pleasure if he asked for it, but she would definitely be disappointed in her heart.

This also made Ye Mingsheng feel torn, but Jiang Yuyan's proposal today made Ye Mingsheng see a new possibility.

Seeing Ye Mingsheng thinking, Jiang Yuyan also understood that Ye Mingsheng was moved, and immediately struck while the iron was hot and continued:
"Sir, I will not use the money from Rishengchang. Yuchuntang has 30,000 taels of spare money in its account, which is most suitable for holding a 60th birthday party for the old lady. Mr. Bai from the Bai Mansion can also take out 30,000 taels of silver. If more is needed, we can raise more!"

Hearing her words, Ye Mingsheng nodded and said:
'It's rare that you have such filial piety, so you just need to prepare the silver...'

Although there were many deviations from expectations, Jiang Yuyan was very excited to see Ye Mingsheng was willing to accept the money and immediately said:
"Yes, we will prepare the silver as soon as possible!"

Seeing that Jiang Yuyan understood what he meant, Ye Mingsheng nodded slightly. As the sky gradually darkened, Ye Mingsheng originally wanted to spend a pleasant and exciting night with Jiang Yuyan.

However, he didn't expect that at this time, someone came to the Ye Mansion to report to Ye Mingsheng that Bai Yuanyuan was about to give birth. This made Ye Mingsheng lose the mood to have fun. Seeing this, although Jiang Yuyan felt a little jealous, in order to show the image of being sensible and virtuous in front of Ye Mingsheng, she also advised Ye Mingsheng to go back to the mansion to take a look.

Under Jiang Yuyan's advice, Ye Mingsheng pretended to hesitate for a moment and then went with the flow. After simply calming Jiang Yuyan's emotions, Ye Mingsheng left, leaving Jiang Yuyan alone in Feiyanzhai, turning into a lonely and cold Waiting for Her Husband Stone.

Sitting in the carriage on the way back home, Ye Mingsheng closed his eyes to rest. Although his eyes were closed, Ye Mingsheng was thinking carefully in his mind.

Jiang Yuyan said nice things, saying that everything was given by herself and that she wanted to share her worries and show her filial piety to Ye Cui.

But if Ye Mingsheng believed her words, he would be a complete fool, and he would never get to where he is today····························

Ye Mingsheng was indeed surprised that Jiang Yuyan and Bai Wanhao of the Bai family would hold a birthday party for Ye Cui, and it was something he had not expected.

However, the spy from the Coordination Office who was arranged to be beside Jiang Yuyan reported another matter to Ye Mingsheng. That matter was that Jiang Yuyan had always been concerned about the battle of the Fengwu Army in Yunbing and her family in Luoan, and had tried to provide some help to her family through various channels.

Therefore, Ye Mingsheng could probably figure out the motive behind Jiang Yuyan's initiative to propose a birthday party, and he was happy to see it happen.

Although in external propaganda Ye Mingsheng always touted himself as a loyal minister and capable general of the Great Zhou, he wanted to purge the emperor's side, get rid of the traitor Shangguan Hongyuan, and return power to the emperor of the Great Zhou.

Although Ye Mingsheng himself didn't care about this slogan at all, he just used it to justify the righteousness of the Luoan court.

If the Fengwu Army really attacked Luoan and captured the little emperor alive, Ye Mingsheng would definitely lock him up in the palace and keep him under strict surveillance like Shangguan Hongyuan. If he was not honest, Ye Mingsheng would not mind letting him have an accident.

However, as someone who will be the emperor in the future, Ye Mingsheng still has to pay attention to some impacts. If the problem can be solved without killing, Ye Mingsheng does not want to resort to knife action.

But Ye Mingsheng was a little worried. What if some people in the Zhou royal family didn’t understand the situation and were unwilling to accept it? So Ye Mingsheng wanted someone to persuade those old and young members of the royal family on his behalf...

Now it seems that Jiang Yuyan is a good choice. Let Jiang Yuyan talk to those old people. In a word, it is better to use courtesy before force!
Ye Mingsheng knew Jiang Yuyan's purpose clearly, and he knew even more clearly why Bai Wanhao was willing to spend money!
Bai Wanhao from the Bai family, Ye Mingsheng noticed this person a long time ago. This old guy is a very smart person!

He knew where the red line was set by Ye Mingsheng, so he never let his two sons embezzle and break the law, or do things that Ye Mingsheng did not allow! At the same time, Bai Wanhao was also very good at seeking benefits for himself within the red line. He used the identities of his two sons and Bai Yuanyuan to understand the policy orientation of the Fengwu Army, and then made business arrangements in advance. In this way, he also made a lot of money and reaped a lot of rewards!

At the same time, Bai Wanhao also actively purchased Dadongsheng's bonds to obtain amulets for himself and his family, and did good deeds among the people to gain a good reputation for himself.

Seeing that Bai Wanhao was so obedient and sensible, Ye Mingsheng naturally had no reason to deal with him!

Unfortunately, although Bai Wanhao is smart and cunning, he still has not gotten rid of the limited thinking of businessmen throughout the ages.

When businessmen have money, they will definitely want to improve their social status. After their social status is improved, the next step is to improve their political influence!

But Bai Wanhao is different from others, he has a beautiful daughter, and this daughter is married to Ye Mingsheng...

So the reason why Bai Wanhao was willing to spend money and Jiang Yuyan to hold a 60th birthday party for the old lady was first of all a gamble, betting that Bai Yuanyuan would give birth to a boy tonight!
Ye Mingsheng currently has three sons: the eldest son Jingren, the second son Jingcheng, and the third son Jingxuan.

But Pei Zhixiu is unwilling to compete. Although Shen Yutong wants to compete, she does not have the ability to do so. Therefore, Jingren is currently the only one standing out without any competitors.

And if Bai Yuanyuan can give birth to a boy tonight, then Jingren will have a more realistic competitor!
Although the strength of the Bai family is far inferior to that of the Cui family, Bai Yuanyuan's two brothers, Bai Changrong, are generals in the Fengwu Army, and Bai Changjiu also holds important positions in the government. The Bai family has money when it needs it, and the fundamentals are very good, so there is no doubt that Bai Wanhao has ideas!
Even if Bai Yuanyuan loses the bet to have another girl, the Bai family will not lose anything as Ye Mingsheng will remember them well. This will be helpful for the careers of the two brothers of the Bai family, and it will also help their daughter to some extent and change their image in front of Ye Cui.

So as a businessman, faced with such risks and benefits, Bai Wanhao had no reason to refuse. It was precisely because of this that Jiang Yuyan chose to cooperate with Bai Wanhao.

Ye Mingsheng saw Bai Wanhao's little trick but didn't want to expose it. After all, the key to power lies in checks and balances.

The Bai brothers will still be very useful in the future, so Ye Mingsheng also plans to give them a taste of the sweetness.

Half an incense stick later, the carriage stopped at the gate of the Ye Mansion. As soon as Ye Mingsheng got off the carriage, he saw Ye Cheng walking towards him quickly and congratulating him:
"Congratulations, Marshal. Madam Bai has given birth to a little boy for you..."

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Guanzhong, Weiguan

Wei Pass is located in the vast Guanzhong land, with Ziwu Mountain to the north and Jin River to the south. It is the only shortcut from the Central Plains to the northwest. It has been a battleground for military strategists since ancient times, and countless soldiers have died here over the thousands of years.

And today, the flag of the Fengwu Army is also fluttering in the wilderness outside Wei Guan City, and along with the flag of the Fengwu Army there is the sound of constant roaring cannons.

Thirty red heavy artillery pieces continuously roared towards Wei Pass, and one shell after another hit the wall of Wei Pass. Behind the Fengwu Army’s camp, Yuan Song was standing on the watchtower with a telescope, observing the effects of the Fengwu Army’s artillery fire.

Before Yuan Song joined the army at the age of sixteen to follow Ye Mingsheng, he had worked in the imperial guards for nearly twenty years. During these twenty years, he traveled quite a bit in Guanzhong and Yongliang, although not all of them.

When Yuan Song first joined the army, he was stationed in Wei Pass, where he stayed for two years. Yuan Song still remembers that when he was sixteen or seventeen years old, he was shivering in the cold wind while on duty at night.

However, Yuan Song, a rookie at that time, never imagined that decades later, he would lead more than 100,000 troops to attack Wei Pass!

Although he had been stationed at Weiguan before, after all, nearly thirty years had passed. Therefore, facing Yuan Song of Weiguan again, he felt that time had passed and things had changed.
Watching the bombs exploding one by one on the walls of Wei Pass, Yuan Song felt deeply moved and became more confident in conquering Wei Pass.

The geographical location of Wei Pass is extremely strategic and easy to defend but difficult to attack, otherwise countless elite soldiers and generals in ancient times would not have been defeated here.

But times are different now. The emergence of artillery has greatly changed the way of war. At the same time, no person or thing can withstand the wear and tear of time.

Take the city wall of Wei Pass for example. It has also been through many wars. At the beginning of the founding of the Great Zhou Dynasty, Wei Pass was thoroughly repaired. However, the existence of Wei Pass was mainly to guard against enemies in Guandong. After the Great Zhou unified the world, Guandong was also the territory of the Great Zhou. Therefore, the role of Wei Pass has been greatly reduced in the past three hundred years.

Since the founding of the Zhou Dynasty, the economic situation has not been very good, and the country has been fighting with the grassland people in the north, so there is no spare money to repair the Weiguan Pass, which has little function. The three hundred years of wind, rain, sun and cold have caused great damage to the walls of Weiguan Pass.
If there were no cannons in the past, the walls of Weiguan might have been able to withstand it. However, facing the fierce bombardment of the Fengwu Army, although Weiguan was able to hold on for the time being, it was also severely damaged. It was full of potholes and some walls had even begun to fall off.

This also made Yuan Song believe that as long as more cannons were dispatched and sufficient shells were fired every day for one or two months, it would be entirely possible to blast open Wei Pass...
Although his hometown is not Guanzhong, Yuan Song dedicated the best years of his life in Guanzhong. He shed blood here fighting against the Cumans, married and had children here, and worked his way up to become the sentry chief of the imperial guards. It was also here that he met Ye Mingsheng, who completely changed his life!
Therefore, Yuan Song still has deep feelings for Guanzhong. He even regards Guanzhong as his second hometown in life. At first, he disliked the strong wind and sand here and wanted to move to a place where people could survive. However, during the time he followed Ye Mingsheng, he dreamed of returning to Guanzhong more than once!

He missed the chili oil in Guanzhong, the endless variety of noodles, and even the yellow sand all over the sky!
Now, as long as Wei Pass is conquered, Yuan Song can return to the place in his dreams and feel everything he once felt!
But what is different from before is that Yuan Song is no longer an unknown little sentry in the imperial guards who has to endure exploitation and exclusion from his superiors. Now he is the first general of the Fengwu Army, commanding more than 100,000 soldiers and horses, and the commander-in-chief of the Fengwu Army's western expedition to Guanzhong!
It is not an exaggeration to describe the identities of the two as worlds apart······························

(End of this chapter)