Eagle-eyed and wolf-watching

Chapter 1605 Untitled
At 1:00 p.m., the imperial study was brightly lit.
Although Ye Mingsheng didn't like working overtime, because he went to inspect the Liangzhen camp yesterday, all the memorials were delayed for one day. Some of them were very important matters, so because of these delays, Ye Mingsheng had to work overtime for more than an hour.

Under the light of the kerosene lamp, Ye Mingsheng was carefully reading the memorial in his hand, which was submitted by Su Junjie from the Ministry of Industry about building a new steel plant in Yujing. After reading the memorial carefully three times, Ye Mingsheng made a decision in his mind and solemnly wrote the word "approved" on the memorial!
After making this decision, Ye Mingsheng felt relieved. Just as Ye Mingsheng stretched and prepared to finish his work tonight and was thinking about whether he should sleep alone at night, he saw Zhang Yufeng, the attendant on duty tonight, walking into the imperial study with a memorial.

Ye Mingsheng, who had originally looked relaxed, looked at Zhang Yufeng's solemn expression and suddenly had a bad feeling in his heart.

Zhang Yufeng bowed and handed the memorial to Ye Mingsheng, and said:
"Your Majesty, has the First Army sent back any news?"

Ye Mingsheng took the letter, opened the envelope immediately, took out the letter inside and began to read.

After just reading the first two paragraphs of the letter, Ye Mingsheng couldn't help but show a hint of anger in his eyes, but Ye Mingsheng still suppressed his anger and continued reading.

After half a cup of tea, Ye Mingsheng read the contents of the letter twice, closed his eyes and waved to Zhang Yufeng. Zhang Yufeng immediately bowed and left the room and closed the door.

After Zhang Yufeng left the room, Ye Mingsheng was silent for more than ten seconds. Then he picked up the inkstone on the desk and wanted to smash it. However, just before he was about to smash it, Ye Mingsheng controlled his emotions and put the inkstone back on the desk...
Because of the changes in the northern grasslands, Ye Mingsheng was forced to stop the expedition against Yunqian and Baiyue areas in order to avoid the risks of fighting on two fronts, and the First Army also remained in Yunqian. Originally, Ye Mingsheng did not think there was anything wrong with doing so.

But some time ago, the Coordination Office sent Ye Mingsheng a secret letter from Liu Long, a secret agent planted by the Coordination Office in the First Army!
The secret letter told Ye Mingsheng about some situations that Zhang Meng, the commander of the First Army, did not mention in the report submitted to Ye Mingsheng.
The first point is that not all of the Yunqian Tusi Mu family surrendered, but some of them fled to Baiyue.

The second point is that in order to retaliate against the Li chieftain's tenacious resistance in the war, Zhang Meng massacred the Li chieftain's clansmen, and the wealth accumulated by the Li chieftain over the years was also divided up by Zhang Meng and other generals of the First Army!
The third point is that Zhang Meng adopted the tactic of using chieftains to control chieftains in the war with the Yunqian chieftains. Specifically, he used the surrendered and incorporated chieftains to take the lead, letting these people charge in the front, while he and the soldiers of the First Army followed behind to provide support!
Although this tactic reduced the casualties of the First Army's soldiers, it made the surrendered chieftains very dissatisfied.

In the battle to attack Jinzhi City, those conquered chieftains made great efforts and suffered heavy casualties, but they did not get the wealth promised by Zhang Meng. Instead, all the wealth was taken away by Zhang Meng and the generals of the First Army. This also aroused the anger of these surrendered chieftains. In addition, seeing Zhang Meng's cruel behavior towards the Li chieftain, these people were completely fed up...

Seeing that these surrendered chieftains were about to give up, Zhang Meng also wanted to use force to make them surrender, and a conflict broke out between the two sides. Although Zhang Meng eventually won the fight after killing thousands of people, he also became alienated from the chieftains!
This also led to the small and medium-sized chieftains behind them starting to deal with the Daqian army at the same time. Although they did not dare to confront the Daqian army head-on, they also found the weakness of the Daqian army, that is, logistics supply. They used their familiarity with the terrain and the humid climate of Yunqian to restrict Daqian's firearms and made many targeted deployments. This also led to the First Army's situation in Yunqian falling into difficulties.

The First Army, which was composed mostly of northerners, was becoming increasingly uncomfortable with the rainy weather in Yunqian. In addition, they had not returned home for a long time after years of fighting!
So even though the First Army was Daqian's ace force, due to these many factors, deserters began to appear in the First Army.

When Ye Mingsheng saw Liu Long's letter, he immediately paid great attention to it. Ye Mingsheng wanted to ask Zhang Meng what the actual situation was, but Ye Mingsheng knew better that Yijing was thousands of miles away from Yunqian.

I sent a letter, and Zhang Meng replied. It took several months to go back and forth. If what Liu Long said was true, and the situation of the First Army was really so difficult, then if it dragged on for a few more months, this ace force of Daqian might be in danger...
So after careful consideration, Ye Mingsheng chose to believe Liu Long and directly asked the General Staff to organize troops to enter Yunqian and withdraw the First Army from Yunqian to Jingchu for repairs, and then make long-term plans!

What Ye Mingsheng saw now was the report on the situation of the First Army sent to him by Shen Yigui, the general of Jingchu. At the same time, it was Shen Yigui who led some militia and local militia of Jingchu with 10,000 people to enter Yunqian.

According to Shen Yigui's report, the situation of the First Army was indeed very bad. Because of the constant harassment of the Yunqian chieftains on its logistical supplies, the First Army's firearms were basically all useless. Although the number of casualties in the First Army was not large, basically one-third of the entire army was infected with malaria and other diseases.

Due to various problems such as illness, rainy days and lack of supplies, the morale of the entire army was low, and it had completely lost the style of the ace force that fought for Daqian.

Even Zhang Meng, the commander, was infected with malaria. When Shen Yigui saw him, Zhang Meng had already fallen ill.

Seeing all this, Ye Mingsheng was deeply saddened. Although he knew that the war in Yunqian, Yunqian’s climate, miasma, etc. would cause some troubles to the First Army, he believed that as long as they were well prepared, these would not be a problem!

But now it seems that Ye Mingsheng really underestimated all this, and the most important thing is that he misjudged Zhang Meng!

Zhang Meng is indeed a man of both wisdom and courage, and he has accomplished some of the goals of the Daqian court in capturing Yunqian, but he is too cruel and greedy...

In order to take revenge on the Li chieftain and covet his wealth, he and all the chieftains in Yunqian became alienated from each other. This can be said to have laid a big pit for Daqian's subsequent governance of Yunqian!
Moreover, this iron-clad army of the First Army was almost in an extremely dangerous situation. Ye Mingsheng simply couldn't believe what would happen to the First Army if it stayed in Yunqian for a few more months if he had not received the letter from Liu Long in advance!
Thinking of this, a hint of murderous intent emerged in Ye Mingsheng's eyes. Although Zhang Meng had made many military achievements for Daqian, he really made a big mistake this time!

Thinking of this, Ye Mingsheng looked at his desk and fell into deep thought.

Although from the descriptions of Liu Long and Shen Yigui, Zhang Meng seemed to be unforgivable, but this was their perspective after all. Zhang Meng was a veteran general in the Fengwu Army. Even if he wanted to kill him to uphold military law, he should also give him a chance to tell his story!

It would be too hasty to kill him with just one order!

Thinking of this, Ye Mingsheng bent over his desk and began to write. Although Ye Mingsheng wanted Zhang Meng to return to Yijing to stand trial right away, according to Shen Yigui's account, Zhang Meng himself had contracted malaria and fell ill, so Ye Mingsheng could only let Zhang Meng recover from the disease in Jingchu and then return to Yijing.

After all, if Zhang Meng were to return to Yijing in this state, he might die before he even reaches Jiyu...
After dealing with Zhang Meng's affairs, Ye Mingsheng couldn't help but look to the north. He hadn't seen the battle report from the north for a while!
Even though the First Army fought badly in Yunqian, they still conquered Yunqian after all. Although those chieftains in Yunqian could cause some trouble, they were just small waves at best and could not amount to much!
But it’s different in the north. The Cumans, armed with Roman firearms, are indeed a threat. If not handled properly, they can easily become a major concern for Daqian!
Since unifying the Central Plains and establishing Daqian, Ye Mingsheng has decided that the focus of Daqian will shift from conquering cities to economic livelihood. Ye Mingsheng wants to do something that may seem thankless to others, but Ye Mingsheng believes that it will benefit the present and the future. Ye Mingsheng hopes that everyone in Daqian can look at the world with an open mind and thoughts, instead of being self-contained and arrogant and ignorant, thinking that they are the Celestial Empire and others are barbarians who refuse to be civilized!
Ye Mingsheng did not want to see the century-long history of humiliation happen again, so Ye Mingsheng wanted Daqian to make changes. This change was not only a material change in firearms, machinery, etc., but also a change in the heart and mind.

Ye Mingsheng was very confident about this change at the beginning. He believed that he had the ability, prestige and power, and he could change the world!

But some recent circumstances have made Ye Mingsheng realize that things may be more difficult than he imagined!
The difficulty of changing people's thoughts and concepts is no less than that of seizing the country and unifying the world. It can even be said to be more difficult!
Therefore, Ye Mingsheng was willing to devote most of his energy in the second half of his life to this matter, but the threat from the Cumans in the north made Ye Mingsheng feel like a thorn in his side!

If the ambitions of the Cumans cannot be suppressed, Daqian may have to deploy heavy troops in the north for the next few decades, which will greatly restrict Daqian's national strength and also distract Ye Mingsheng's attention...

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In the prison of Yijing government office

In the dim cell, Yang Tao looked at the old man tied to a wooden stake in front of him, and his eyes gradually became cold.

"What's your name?"

Although he had not been tortured yet, the old man, whose arms and legs were tied and who had lost his personal freedom, was trembling with fear in this dim and depressing room.

It was not known whether it was because he was too frightened or because his hearing had deteriorated due to his age, but the old man did not give any answer to Yang Tao's question. Instead, he looked at Yang Tao blankly. Seeing this, Yang Tao also glanced at the constable Wang Yu beside him.

Wang Yu immediately understood what he meant, picked up a bucket of cold water and poured it directly on the old man. The old man, who was already shivering, trembled even more violently at this moment, and sneezed several times. He looked very embarrassed.

Seeing this, Yang Tao spoke again:
"This bucket of water is for you to cool down! Just tell me what I ask you. You know what this place is and what tricks are used here. You understand even if I don't tell you. Don't be shameless, old man. If you don't accept my toast, you will be punished!"

"I'll ask you again! Name?"

Yang Tao's bucket of cold water seemed to be quite effective. This time, upon hearing Yang Tao's question, the old man spoke tremblingly:

"My name is Huang Daqiang..."

"Place of origin?"

"Yuyang, Huangjia Village!"

"Who told you about the wooden dragon causing trouble?"

When Huang Daqiang heard Yang Tao ask this, a hint of hesitation flashed in his eyes. Yang Tao, noticing this, immediately spoke up and emphasized:

"Old Huang, let me tell you! You'd better speak up and try to get leniency. If you insist, you'll only make things difficult for yourself. Not to mention an old man like you, even if he's made of iron, we can still pry his mouth open!"

Hearing Yang Tao say this, Huang Daqiang lowered his head and said:
"A young man from our village told me this. He told me that a deity appeared in his dream and told him that the drought was caused by the wood dragon. If we tell enough people about this, the wood dragon will wake up and everything will be fine!"

"So I just wanted to make this drought end sooner, so I told others about the wood dragon's mischief. I was also doing a good deed!"

After hearing what Huang Daqiang said, Yang Tao continued to ask:
"What's the name of that young man you mentioned? Why did you go and speak when he asked you to? Did he give you any money or any other benefits?"

Huang Daqiang hesitated when he heard this, but facing Yang Tao's sharp gaze, he couldn't help but whispered:

"That young man is called Huang Yong. He used to do business in Yijing City. He asked me to dress up as an old monk and tell everyone about the wooden dragon. He asked me to tell the story for a full month, and then he would give me five taels of silver..."

(End of this chapter)