Chapter 931 The inevitable war!
Ye Mingsheng, who had just finished a meeting in the study of the Ye Mansion, leaned back in his chair tiredly. Seeing this, Ye Cheng was very smart and called two maids to massage Ye Mingsheng's shoulders and legs...

Although his body was enjoying the massage from the maids, Ye Mingsheng was still thinking about what had just happened in the meeting.

The news sent from the Golden Horde indicated that although Asdogan was also shocked, the Fengwu Army actually captured Wei Pass so quickly.

However, he did not give up the plan of interfering with the Fengwu Army's defeat of the Luoan court. On the contrary, he accelerated the process of interference!

This undoubtedly angered Ye Mingsheng!
Recently, due to the rapid capture of Wei Pass, Luoan has become within reach, so there are different opinions within the Fengwu Army as to whether to send the newly formed 13th and 14th Divisions to support as originally planned.

A group of civil officials led by Cui Shao and Gu Sansi believed that the tens of thousands of troops would waste too much money and food on the way to Guanzhong.

However, the central government's finances are tight now, and many things cannot be implemented due to lack of money. So now that we have conquered Wei Pass and are about to take Luoan, there is no need to mobilize so many troops and send so many people on a long expedition.

Although Ye Mingsheng has not made a final decision on their opinion, he agrees with it in his heart. After all, it is nearly two thousand miles from Yijing to Luoan, and the food, drink, and toilet needs of 30,000 to 40,000 people on the road all cost money!

Where does this money come from?

It’s all the people’s hard-earned money························

If Wei Pass had not been taken, then reinforcements would still make sense. But now that Wei Pass has been taken, it will be difficult for Luoan to stop the Fengwu Army's conquest, so reinforcements will not be very meaningful. It doesn't matter what you do with the remaining money!
But now feeling Asdogan's determination to interfere, Ye Mingsheng also realized that he needed to rethink this issue!
Judging from Asdogan's actions, the original strategy of using the Robes to force the Golden Horde does not seem to be so effective!

The Cuman barbarian Esidogan was extremely ambitious. He was determined to fight with me. He would feel uncomfortable if he didn't!
Since Asdogan had this idea, Ye Mingsheng also decided to fulfill Asdogan's wish!

After all, once the Luoan court is completely resolved, the strategic focus of the Fengwu Army will inevitably shift to the south to completely unify the Great Zhou. It is better to fight the Golden Horde now than to wait until the Fengwu Army launches a large-scale military operation in the south in the future and then have Asdog stab them in the back!

The great war with the Khanate of Czincha and Asdogan is inevitable!

Ye Mingsheng was determined to fight this battle. He wanted to crush the inflated ambitions of Asdogan and the Golden Horde, and to cut off the evil claws that the Golden Horde was extending to the Great Zhou!
This battle will at least prevent the Golden Horde from invading the border again for three to five years. Three to five years is enough time for Ye Mingsheng to completely unify the Great Zhou. By that time, it will be the time to completely solve the northern border issues that have troubled the Central Plains court for hundreds of years...

To accomplish this goal, the Western Expedition Army under Yuan Song alone was not enough. The six divisions under Yuan Song had been fighting for nearly half a year, and the successive fierce battles with the Luoan court had caused each division to suffer nearly 20% casualties.

In addition to casualties, the continuous battles made the soldiers very tired. With all these factors combined, Ye Mingsheng believed that it was necessary to pull the two newly formed divisions to the battlefield to ensure that the Fengwu Army could win the battle with the Cumans.

Thinking of this, Ye Mingsheng was not only somewhat fortunate, but also that the installment payment plan proposed by Gu Sansi received a very good response in the army. Nearly 70% of the soldiers chose the installment payment plan, which greatly alleviated the financial pressure.

This also gave Ye Mingsheng the strength and confidence to dare to draw his sword when facing the provocation of the Golden Horde!
In order to better deal with the Cumans, Ye Mingsheng deliberately loosened the chains around the necks of the Robe people, so that they could open their bloody mouths and bite the Cumans fiercely.

Some time ago, the envoy of the Foreign Affairs Bureau to the Golden Horde sent back a message saying that Jamukha was actually intending to negotiate peace with the Golden Horde in order to counter their interference in the affairs of the Golden Horde.

In response to this, Ye Mingsheng asked the Foreign Affairs Bureau to instigate the powerful factions among the Robe people to continuously attack and kill the Kipchak tribes and plunder the Kipchak’s cattle, sheep, and women, in order to obstruct and destroy possible peace talks between the Robe people and the Kipchak…
On the other hand, Ye Mingsheng also asked the Foreign Affairs Bureau to secretly stimulate the fragile balance within Luobi by sowing discord, so that Zhamuhe could not unite the entire Luobi.
The Foreign Affairs Bureau even had a plan to bring down Jamukha, but now Ye Mingsheng decided to wait and give Jamukha a piece of candy, asking him to help him tie down part of the Golden Horde's military forces.

Just when Ye Mingsheng was gradually coming up with ideas in his mind, he heard Ye Cheng beside him quietly reminding him:
"Sir, Director Ji wants to see you for something!"

Hearing this, Ye Mingsheng stopped thinking, waved his hand to signal the two maids who were giving him a massage to leave, and asked Ji Xian to come in and report.

Ji Xian walked into the room and greeted Ye Mingsheng first, then he began to report:

"Sir, the internal guards have found out that General Ye Tie secretly took the criminal Lin Huaiwu and his family to Dongning!"

Ye Mingsheng was a little surprised when he heard this. Ye Tie, his former captain of personal guards, had always been the person he trusted the most. Why would he bring Lin Huaiwu to Liaoyang? What was Ye Tie going to do?
After thinking for a while, Ye Mingsheng felt that there was probably some hidden story behind this, and immediately asked Ji Xian:
"How is Lin Huaiwu's family doing in Fengzhou?"

Previously, Lin Huaiwu was dismissed from his post and his property was confiscated because of corruption. Ye Mingsheng could not bear to kill this old brother who had followed him to start his business, so he exiled their entire family to Fengzhou for confinement...

Upon hearing this, Ji Xian introduced:
"After Lord Lin Huaiwu and his family arrived in Fengzhou, their food, clothing, housing and transportation were not as good as before, but they were all guaranteed. However, Lin Huaiwu had some hidden illnesses after years of fighting, and the weather in Fengzhou was very cold, so he contracted syphilis and is now in a wheelchair!"

"After General Ye Dong heard about this, he arranged for a doctor to treat Lin Huaiwu. After Lin Huaiwu got better, he brought his family to Dongning and let them live there in hiding!"

After hearing what Ji Xian said, Ye Mingsheng felt complicated, and the figure of Lin Huaiwu appeared in his mind.

Although Lin Huaiwu had committed corruption and committed lawlessness, and his property was searched and he was dismissed from his post, it was his own fault, but Ye Mingsheng still felt uncomfortable when he thought that Lin Huaiwu, who used to be by his side and was always in good shape and walked fast, was now in a wheelchair.

In addition, Ye Mingsheng could also understand why Ye Tie did this. When their group had not yet become successful, Ye Tie and Lin Huaiwu had a very good relationship. They even discussed arranging marriages for their children!
Ye Tie, who came from the outlaws, is a very affectionate man. Now that Lin Huaiwu has fallen into such a situation, it seems reasonable for Ye Tie, as a former good brother, to want to help.

After pondering for a moment, Ye Mingsheng instructed Ji Xian:
“Let them be…”

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On a small road in Xingyuan Prefecture, Guanzhong
Thousands of well-equipped imperial guards were walking quickly on the path leading to the south. They were Shangguan Changgong and his group who were fleeing south. That day, according to the analysis of Niu Cong, the Shaoqing of the Dali Temple, Shangguan Changgong had already decided to flee south, but he was a little afraid of being accused of abandoning Luoan.

So he left Luo'an to Zhao Zhikang and Su He to defend it, while he took 5,000 elite imperial guards, his family, and most importantly, the little emperor Jiang Rui to start his escape to the south.

At this time, in a very heavily protected carriage in the team.

A young man, about fifteen or sixteen years old, dressed in fancy clothes, asked a man who looked like a eunuch beside him:
"Eunuch Zhao, where are you now?"

Upon hearing this, Eunuch Zhao immediately spoke softly:

"Your Majesty, we have now reached the vicinity of Xingyuan Prefecture. It is still a few dozen miles to the prefecture city!"

The young man called His Majesty, the current Emperor of Great Zhou, Jiang Rui, nodded when he heard this, then opened the curtain of the carriage and looked at the scenery outside the window with a complicated expression.

When the Empress's aunt was killed and all the royal family members were brutally massacred by Shangguan Hongyuan more than two years ago, he thought he would be locked up in the deep palace for the rest of his life.

However, what he never expected was that in just over two years, he would once again embark on the road of fleeing to Sichuan...

However, unlike the last time when he was accompanied by his mother, the emperor's uncle, and other princes and ministers, this time he was only surrounded by members of the Shangguan family and soldiers loyal to the Shangguan family.

Perhaps because he had not stepped out of the palace for a long time, or perhaps because he didn't know whether he would be able to set foot on this land again in his lifetime, there was a hint of nostalgia in Jiang Rui's eyes!

Just as Jiang Rui was looking at the homeland of the Great Zhou with some nostalgia, a general of the Imperial Guards who was guarding the car said coldly:
"It's windy outside, Your Majesty, please lower the curtains and stay in the car!"

Hearing that the general even wanted to stop him from enjoying the scenery, Jiang Rui felt a little angry, but in the end he still lowered the curtains of the car windows as the general requested.

Without the protection of his mother and uncle, Jiang Rui, who had been under house arrest in the deep palace for more than two years, began to realize that he, the so-called Emperor of the Great Zhou and ruler of the world, was actually just a puppet to be manipulated by others!

This also made Jiang Rui lose his former arrogance and conceit, and he seemed to become more restrained and tolerant.

As if he had seen Jiang Rui's anger, Eunuch Zhao beside him whispered to comfort him:

"Your Majesty, you are now a hidden dragon in the abyss. Once you reach Sichuan and Shu, the situation will be much better!"

Although this eunuch Zhao was chosen by Shangguan Hongyuan to serve Jiang Rui, as a eunuch, Eunuch Zhao knew in his heart who was the master of them. Therefore, he sympathized with Jiang Rui, the emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty, and took care of Jiang Rui as much as possible on weekdays...

Jiang Rui nodded when he heard this, indicating that he understood. After hesitating for a moment, he asked Eunuch Zhao:
"Eunuch Zhao, is the Fengwu Army under Ye Mingsheng really going to invade Luo'an?"

During the time he was under house arrest in the deep palace, Jiang Rui was always under strict surveillance. Shangguan Hongyuan and Shangguan Changgong, father and son, did not allow him to have any contact with the outside world.

So even though he realized that Shangguan Changgong was taking him to flee south most likely because Luoan could no longer be defended, Jiang Rui still couldn't believe that the seemingly invincible Shangguan family, which had killed his mother, the emperor's uncle, and slaughtered the royal family of the Great Zhou, was really going to fail!
Eunuch Zhao nodded and said in a low voice:

"Your Majesty, that's right! The Fengwu Army is like wolves and tigers. The Imperial Guards can't stop them at all!"

As soon as these words were spoken, Jiang Rui's expression immediately showed anticipation. Although he had experienced a lot, Jiang Rui was, after all, just a child of fifteen or sixteen years old.

Seeing Jiang Rui like this, Eunuch Zhao also understood what he was thinking. He hesitated for a moment and said:
“Your Majesty, although Ye Mingsheng advocates the slogan of clearing out the corrupt officials and returning power to Your Majesty, in the final analysis, he and Shangguan Hongyuan are birds of a feather. Those soldiers of the Fengwu Army only know Marshal Ye, but not Your Majesty…”

Jiang Rui, whose fantasy was shattered by Eunuch Zhao, suddenly fell into silence. After a moment, he said in a low voice with deep sorrow:
"One should be loyal to the emperor when receiving his salary! How could our ancestral country have given rise to such a group of evil villains with wicked ambitions and no regard for the emperor's kindness!"

As soon as Jiang Rui finished speaking, Eunuch Zhao was about to comfort him when he suddenly heard several cannon shots outside, followed by deafening shouts of killing in the distance.

On a small hill not far away, Ye Dong, who had been lying in ambush for a long time, had already noticed the carriage, which was luxuriously decorated, holding a dragon flag and was heavily guarded.
Ye Dong knew that the person sitting in that carriage was the current Emperor of the Great Zhou, Jiang Rui. He narrowed his eyes involuntarily and nodded to the guard beside him.

After receiving Ye Dong's signal, hundreds of soldiers dressed in imperial army uniforms and carrying imperial army weapons immediately rushed towards the carriage under the cover of artillery fire.

They wanted to use the imperial guards’ arrows to pierce the young emperor Jiang Rui’s frail body and let everyone in the world know that the emperor died at the hands of the imperial guards and at the hands of Shangguan Changgong·····························

(The storyline of the Luoan court is about to come to an end. I wonder what suggestions you have for the war with the Kipchaks?)

(End of this chapter)