Chapter 10 Dai Yun's Pregnancy

The news of Dai Yun and Tan Weishi's pregnancy spread like wildfire. By the time Ye Tao formally convened the meeting the next day, everyone in Thunder Cliff, from officials to ordinary citizens, knew about it.

Since Yunzhou became part of Dongping, the lives of the Yunzhou people had improved in tangible ways. Although the old General Xu Jingtao had little economic talent, under his rule, bandits, caravan groups, mountain bandits, and brigands were severely cracked down on, swept through again and again, allowing the people to live in peace. Ye Tao, from the time he was the Director of Roads and Bridges, built bridges and paved roads, managed the post stations along the way, and attracted merchants to Yunzhou. When he became the Yunzhou Pacification Commissioner, he and Tan Weixin, who was regarded as the "Goddess of Wealth," worked together to boost Yunzhou in a short period. Now, the lives of the Yunzhou people were far better than before. As everyone's hearts turned more and more towards Dongping, they also held Ye Tao and his family in extremely deep admiration. Many of the tribal children on the Benlang Plains had always treated Ye Tao and his family as deities.

The Yunzhou Pacification Commissioner, who combined military and political power, was the master of Yunzhou in the eyes of the people, a good master. Naturally, the better Ye Tao did, the deeper the worries in the imperial court, and the more people worried that Yunzhou would break away from Dongping.

Now that Ye Tao had children, two at once, the people were naturally very happy. Although the Yunzhou Pacification Commissioner was certainly not a hereditary position, many people began to naturally talk about when the "little masters" would be born, and what the "little masters" would be like in the future. In the Yunzhou Pacification Commissioner's mansion, those who originally came from the Dongping Inner Court or the Tan family clan, and now held more administrative and economic positions; those from the Dai clan's main family or collateral lines, who now held more military or local official positions; and those from the Ye Clan Workshop, who now served as technical officers in the army or in the Pacification Commissioner's manufacturing bureau or other positions requiring technology, added up to quite a few. They clearly and naturally addressed him as "Young Master" one after another...

Ye Tao, in the position of presiding over the meeting, saw that many of the eyes looking at him were filled with joy, and he was quite happy. But in the current situation, too much optimism was not good. He coughed and said, "Now I announce a few things."

"First, Colonel Dai Yun will not lead the army on this expedition. The reason... you all certainly know."

"Congratulations, Commissioner! Congratulations, Colonel Dai!" Everyone present responded in unison, and the tent was filled with joy.

"Second, I will personally lead the army in this western expedition. I am not as capable as Dai Yun, and going into battle would probably be more of a hindrance than a help. I can only act with the Central Army Camp, analyze the military situation, and plan for overall victory. As for combat, we must rely on everyone's efforts."

"Present gifts for the Young Master!" Everyone shouted in unison. Ye Tao was startled, but seeing Tan Weiran also joining in the shouting, he had to roll his eyes. It was one thing for others to shout, but what was a Dongping prince doing joining in the shout of "Young Master"? Wasn't this just deliberately making trouble!

"Third, the goal of this battle is to annihilate as much as possible all the Xiling forces registered under the Zhenbei Army Command, including the Daoming Sect's Protector Army. If we encounter other military forces, we will not actively attack unless the other party initiates an attack, takes hostile actions, or interferes with our operations. Naturally, the principle is set here, and everyone should grasp the measure themselves. Other military forces include local aristocratic family troops, local militias protecting their homeland, and certain religious forces."

"We respectfully obey your orders, sir!" Although the voices were not as uniform as if they had been trained, they were generally quite consistent.

"Fourth, although the target of this attack is to occupy the Zhenbei Army Command, the scope of operations is not limited to the inherent borders of the Zhenbei Army Command. Each unit will decide based on the specific situation. The ultimate hope is to control a border line that can be defended with limited forces, rather than a chaotic situation of entangled warfare."

Everyone was stunned for a moment, and then responded with cheers: "Your subordinate receives the order."

"Fifth, the estimated time for large-scale combat operations in this operation is one month and five days to a maximum of no more than two months. At that time, we will decide on the steps to gradually withdraw from the battle and disengage from the opposing forces, depending on the situation. Anyone who acts without authorization for any reason will be punished by military law."

When Ye Tao finished speaking, everyone remained silent. The operation time was what everyone had expected. Although there would be slight adjustments at that time, the overall situation would not change much. But Ye Tao was rarely so strict.

"Let me explain. Because all parties are now at war, not only Yunzhou and the Zhenbei Army Command, but also the Zhenning Pass - Beiliao line, and the operation launched by Chunnan directly to the Dananguan Pass. On the one hand, we are comprehensively considering the strategic impact of sustained operations, and on the other hand, the preparation of materials is limited, which is why we have this limit order. From a strategic point of view, after we achieve our predetermined results, we will disengage from contact with Xiling, contain part of Xiling, but also allow Xiling to transfer troops to deal with Chunnan. We have fulfilled our obligations as allies, but we must also allow Chunnan to suffer greater losses. This has already been explained clearly in the military council. Everyone here is one of our own, and these words will not be leaked to the outside world. Understanding the truth makes it easier to grasp the battle situation."

Ye Tao said bluntly: "In addition, because all parties are at war, it is not easy for Yunzhou to further raise grain. Now our reserves of war supplies, fire oil bombs, and so on are enough to cope with about three months of high-intensity operations. But after all, we must keep a hand in reserve and do not want to use up all these reserves. Our Yunzhou will have more great battles to fight in the future, so there is no rush. If there is a situation where we have to continue fighting, the maximum limit is five months. This is already to the point of using the disaster prevention reserve grain of the Civil Affairs Bureau. If we fight to this point, Yunzhou will need a longer time to recover its vitality. Then, what will be affected is not only this battle, but also the entire Yunzhou development plan. Please keep this in mind."

The "Fifteen-Year Outline" had already been distributed by Ye Tao without showing any signs. Except for a few key figures, most people received only the parts related to their execution. And the several key figures who could see the overall picture gathered their subordinates overnight to give them some pointers, telling everyone to be sure to do their job well. It was a small matter to lose face, but if the entire plan was delayed due to the cooperation of one or two departments, it would be a big problem in the future. The framework of the Fifteen-Year Outline was very large. Everyone knew Ye Tao's ambition. The only thing they might not understand was why the plan was so tightly carded. If this plan was not fifteen years but twenty to twenty-five years... everyone knew that even if they could complete the work of weakening Xiling or even defeating Xiling in thirty or forty years, that would be a tremendous achievement. Fifteen years? That was challenging something, wanting to achieve something, wanting to turn the impossible into possible, and only Tan Weiran knew that Ye Tao wanted to "retire" after fifteen years...

But no matter how everyone understood Ye Tao's definition of fifteen years, they were very consistent that they could not let this plan fail in their hands. The matter of the Fifteen-Year Outline had to wait until the moment before it was realized to be revealed to the world, so that it could even more show the national lord Tan Xiaopei's talent for knowing and employing people, the Pacification Commissioner Ye Tao's foresight, and the pragmatic and efficient system of the entire Yunzhou.

After Ye Tao finished speaking, he sat down, and people from various departments began to report on the preparation situation. The most important thing was to let the officers understand the logistics preparation situation, let the people in charge of government affairs understand the military's opinions on logistics preparation, and finally confirm the use and priority of various resources. The first thing that was determined was that once the war started, various weapons and military equipment would be given priority to ensure the army's consumption. Except for the part of armor, swords, and horses that had been agreed with Chunnan to ensure supply, the Bureau of Trade could not temporarily obtain too many shares from the Manufacturing Bureau and the Ye Clan Workshop. Since Tan Weixin was still in charge of Yunzhou, there was no need to worry too much about coordination in this regard. What would really have a greater impact on Yunzhou would be the first limited mobilization of Yunzhou's veteran farms and pastures, which would form six temporary cavalry battalions and eight temporary infantry battalions to assist in guarding the Yunzhou border.

However, after the meeting, Ye Tao saw everyone sincerely come up to bid farewell to Ye Tao, and leave a small item that they carried with them on the small table in front of Ye Tao, as a blessing and protection for Ye Tao's two children. This was also a tradition of Yunzhou. They believed that items carrying people's aura could help pregnant women resist the invasion of external evils during the long pregnancy. Although the things left by everyone were not precious, they represented that they completely regarded Ye Tao as a close friend.

"Present gifts for the Young Master!" After a while, neat shouts rang out from under the cliff of Thunder Cliff, followed by a rush of hoofbeats gradually leaving Thunder Cliff. Then, shouts of "Present gifts for the Young Master!" sounded, as the battalion commanders set off one after another. They came to attend the meeting, only bringing a small number of personal soldiers. And Yunzhou would invest all its military forces this time, which were still distributed throughout Yunzhou. At least on the surface, they were training, guarding, conducting exercises, and some battalions were conducting routine rotations. Everything looked no different from usual.

The only difference was the logistics battalion belonging to Suo Zheng. Since the movement of the logistics battalion meant the full launch of Yunzhou's military logistics system, the logistics battalion was more low-key and cautious when other troops were as normal, only taking advantage of some long-distance transportation to do some preparatory work. And now that the entire army was launched, the greatest pressure was on Suo Zheng, who had to accelerate Yunzhou's entire logistics system from a standstill to full speed in the shortest possible time.

Suo Zheng didn't care too much. The personal items he left for Ye Tao's children were two copper gears that he had been hiding in his arms. Then, he smiled and hurriedly said goodbye to Ye Tao, and went directly to the logistics battalion that had been stationed under Thunder Cliff, and began to operate the entire military logistics system from Thunder Cliff, a place that was not a city, not a town, in the center of Yunzhou.

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Bless friends who see these words to escape the earthquake.

I hope everyone is safe, and everyone's relatives and friends are safe.