Chapter Thirty-two: Another Great Talent Falls into His Hands

  Pyongyang, Ye Zhiwei returned to the camp and was summoned by Ye Zhichao on the second day.

  Ye Zhi-chao was in a good mood, and the two uncle and nephew sat down. Ye Zhi-chao had been forced to quit his addiction recently and it was very successful, coupled with the smooth progress of the war, his complexion had changed greatly, although not to the point of being radiant, but also no longer as pale and thin as before.

  Ye Zhi took a sip of tea and said: "Cong Yun, yesterday you had another encounter with the Japanese, what happened?"

  Ye Zhi Kui knew that things had gotten quite big and that he couldn't keep it hidden, so with a generous smile, he said: "Uncle, this is just your nephew carelessly snatching a batch of wealth from the Japanese."

  "Did they plunder the Japanese people's property? The amount should be quite large, otherwise the Japanese wouldn't have reacted so fiercely!" Ye Zhichao asked with some curiosity.

  "It's not that much," Ye Zhiyuan said with a slight pout, looking embarrassed. "Only over two hundred tons of gold, and only those uncouth Japanese who have never seen the world would think it's a lot."

  "Over 200 tons of gold?" Ye Zhi-chao's eyes widened, he took a deep breath, and his body stood up from the chair without regard for etiquette. Seeing Ye Zhikui's calm demeanor, he felt embarrassed and sat back down, saying: "There's really that much! No wonder Shan Xian has personally come to pursue it."

  Ye Zhi Kui didn't think so in his heart. Two hundred tons is a lot to you, if you knew it was five hundred tons, I don't know what you would think.

  "From the clouds, this batch of gold you are preparing..." Ye Zhichao said cautiously.

  "Uncle can rest assured, I have decided to hand it over to the imperial court. Keeping it by my side is also not reassuring." Ye Zhi Kui replied without waiting for Ye Zhi Chao to finish speaking.

  Ye Zhi-chao pondered for a moment, then said: "The amount is huge, the imperial court wants to hand it over, otherwise it won't be good if it's spread around. How about this? You hand over 100 tons and the rest you can deal with yourself. After all, these are all things you risked your life for." Ye Zhi-chao still took care of his nephew and thought for him.

  What else can Ye Zhui say? Can only thank this uncle!

  After a while, Ye Zhi Kui said: "Uncle, the explosive shells in our army are almost used up. Can we get some from your army first?"

  Ye Zhi-chao's head started hurting again after hearing Ye Zhikui say this, he didn't know how many times it had happened already. The cannonballs in his army had been whittled down bit by bit by Ye Zhikui and were almost gone. He could only rebuke: "Zhu Yun, it's not that I'm criticizing you, but I heard that your military training uses live ammunition! You should know that every time the big gun goes off, it's like losing ten thousand taels of gold. Even if our army had a lot more ammunition, we can't afford to waste it like this."

  Ye Zhi Kui didn't think so in his heart, looking at the war that was about to end, if he didn't use real bullets to train soldiers a lot more, later on he might have to spend his own money to buy cannonballs for training.

  Ye Zhi didn't care about anything else, he just used his two eyes to look at Ye Zhichao pitifully. This little guy was acting spoiled again, and this kind of gaze made Ye Zhichao feel very burdened.

  "Alright, you go ask my artillery team yourself. Whether or not you can get it depends on your own abilities."

  Ye Zhi Kui was overjoyed when he heard the words, and Ye Zhi Chao's camp still had things that Ye Zhi Kui couldn't get. Seeing Ye Zhi Kui no longer pestering him, Ye Zhi Chao also breathed a sigh of relief, thinking to himself: "My artillery team's Ping Gong is a stingy person, without my order, you can't even get ammunition, that's just ridiculous."

  Ye Zhikui, with a mysterious look on his face, hastily led several bodyguards to the artillery battalion's barracks, knocked on the door and entered. Seeing that the officers and instructors were all present, he shouted: "Who is in charge here?"

  The officer naturally knew Ye's leader and had been deceived by him several times, so he could only reply with a bitter face: "This is under my jurisdiction, I don't know what brings General Ye to condescend here."

  Since the officer was so easy-going, Ye Zhi Kui directly spoke up and said: "I'm here to collect the flower shell bullets."

  "This," the officer replied reluctantly, "is all that is left here. I'm afraid you will be disappointed, Young Master Ye."

  Ye Zhi Kui saw the officer's obvious lie, he had investigated beforehand, how could there be none? So he played dumb and said: "If we can't get the things today, we'll stay here."

  The team leader couldn't help but look at the seated coach.

  That instructor has a thin face, a weak body, and a serious expression. He rarely smiles or speaks, and his appearance is not impressive. Ye Zhikui didn't know why the officer was looking at him.

  That instructor saw the team officer asking for help, and had no choice but to stand up, walk to Ye Zhiwei's face and say: "Everyone says that Young Master Ye governs the army strictly, without seeking personal gain. Today I see you, it's just like this."

  The soldiers under Ye's command glared at him with anger, but the instructor remained calm and composed, then asked: "May I ask, Young Master Ye, do you have General Ye's token of authority?"

  Ye shook his head to indicate no, and the instructor continued to ask: "Is there a formal document?"

  Ye Zhui could only shake his head again. The instructor glared at Ye Zhui and said, "This is not here, that is not there, if so, how can Ye Shao transfer artillery shells from our army? Is it to use force to suppress people?"

  Ye Zhi's words left him speechless, and he feigned anger, saying: "You are just a small instructor, how dare you obstruct my affairs? Don't you fear that I will punish you?"

  His expression unchanged, he replied: "In the army, orders come first. I have not been corrupt in the slightest, nor have I perverted the law; what is there to fear?"

  Ye Zhi's heart was secretly praising, what a straightforward and unpretentious teacher. He couldn't help but cup his hands and say: "Today I, Ye Mou, am in the wrong, so I'll return to the camp to ask Commander Ye for a written apology before coming back." With that, he led his men away.

  The team leader saw Ye Zhi's departure, seemingly with a hint of anger, and said to the instructor with a worried expression: "Ping Er, you have offended Ye Shao this time, what should we do?"

  That called Pingqiong's instructor smiled and said, "If Ye Shaoyou is so petty, today there would not be such achievements. Moreover, the world is vast, how can it not accommodate a humble scholar like me?"

  The team leader shook his head helplessly and said with a heavy heart: "Ping Qing, it's not me saying this, but with your talent, if you can change your temperament a bit, success will come naturally."

  Learning in silence, some things can't be lost.

  Ye Zhikui walked into Ye Zhi's room again with a bitter face, Ye Zhi was practicing calligraphy and guessed what had happened when he saw Ye Zhikui, couldn't help but chuckle twice. Ye Zhikui cleverly came forward to grind the ink for him, Ye Zhi put down his brush and smiled: "From Yun, did you get scolded today?"

  Ye Zhi's awkward smile said: "Isn't it because Uncle you deceived Yun, not even giving a hand order? Right, Uncle, who is the artillery instructor in your army? He is indeed impartial and unpretentious."

  Ye Zhi-chao glanced at him and laughed: "You're talking about Ping Qing, I didn't expect that my nephew would also suffer a setback at his hands today. Ping Qing has been following me since he was 15 years old, initially as my orderly, later seeing his cleverness, I recommended him to the Tianjin Military Academy to study artillery science for three years, and then promoted him to be an instructor of the artillery team. I am very clear about his character, he is a straightforward and upright person."

  Is it Wang Shizhen? Ye Zhi Kui couldn't help but feel a little excited, and asked in a low voice: "Are you Wang Shizhen? I've heard of his name."

  Ye Zhi Chao glanced at him, thinking he had a crush on him, and jokingly said: "Not bad, it's really him. How come you're interested in him? My nephew usually doesn't even bother with the people under me."

  Ye Zhi's face revealed a faint smile, Wang Shi Zhen, that is indeed Wang Shi Zhen. Who would have thought that Wang Shi Zhen is now under Ye Zhi Chao's command? If Ye Zhi didn't dig him over, he wouldn't forgive himself even in death.

  Wang Shizhen, known as the "Dragon of the Northern Three Heroes", was one of the most respected Beiyang warlords by Ye Zhiqiu. Firstly, Wang Shizhen possessed exceptional talent for governance and was hailed as the "Crown of the Three Heroes". He was well-versed in both ancient and modern knowledge, with a broad range of skills, and had a deep understanding of both Chinese and foreign affairs, making him the top military talent of Beiyang. Secondly, Wang Shizhen was a man of great integrity, loyal to his superiors, and grateful for the kindness he received from Yuan Shikai after his dismissal from office. He also applied for leave and avoided forming cliques or seeking power and profit. Instead, he treated others with kindness and respect, earning him the reputation as a humble and virtuous gentleman. How could Ye Zhiqiu not be moved by such a man of great virtue and learning?

  Ye Zhi thought for a moment and said, "Uncle, the Hu Yong army is currently lacking a good instructor. Uncle must help me out and let me hire you as my junior!"

  Ye Zhi Chao couldn't help but laugh and cry, saying: "From Yun, you really are a bandit! I'm afraid if I don't agree to your request, you'll come to my camp every day to bother me. Alright, I'll assign Ping to you without any issues, but from now on, you're not allowed to bother me again for ammunition, and you must follow the military's distribution system."

  Ye Zhikui was afraid that Ye Zhi would regret it, so he agreed immediately. Having just been tricked by Ye Zhi once before, Ye Zhikui had learned his lesson and insisted that Ye Zhi write down the order on the spot.

  Ye Zhongkui walked out of the house with the imperial edict and couldn't hold back his excitement, laughing three times and saying: "The Dragon of Beiyang has finally fallen into my hands."

  In the artillery camp, Wang Shizhen still didn't know that he had been sold and felt his left eyelid keep twitching.