Without money, what is the point of being a traitor?

Chapter 399 Nothing, just take a look

Pei Yuan has not made sufficient preparations to uncover that major case. Even if he really starts the group early and forcefully pushes the case forward, he will not have the opportunity to gain much benefit from it.

In this case, instead of making wedding dresses for others, it is better to proceed steadily and develop the Luo Sect first.

This time in Yanggu, Pei Yuan, as the victim and the person who directly holds the evidence, has sufficient reasons to participate in this matter and is not very worried about those procedural difficulties.

Even if the Ministry of Justice and the Dali Temple really came to take over, Pei Yuan didn't care.

He was just looking for money.

Since his hatred with those big clans has already been fulfilled, there is no need for him to kill them all.

Pei Yuan didn't care even if it was taken over by other government offices in the end.

The reason why he kept those people under control and intensified the conflict was that he wanted to take advantage of this opportunity to forcibly link Prince De with this matter.

The purpose is to start clearing the area in advance for the next plan.

Now Pei Yuan has implied to the imperial censor that the three ministries intend to protect Prince De. Regardless of whether the court pays attention to it or not, they will definitely keep their distance from each other in order to avoid suspicion.

That would prevent the Shandong officials from standing with the princes in the subsequent actions...

After seeing off the Censor Chen Bing, Pei Yuan had someone count the gains from the looting of the Yanggu clans.

The bulk of this is made up of gold, silver and land deeds.

Pei Yuan was amazed by the total number.

These dozen families alone dug out more than 100,000 taels of silver from their cellars, in addition to nearly 30% of the fertile land in Yanggu.

Compared with these, fine items such as furs, silks, etc. only account for a very small proportion.

There was also a large amount of food, but Pei Yuan was too lazy to even look at it.

At this moment, Pei Yuan suddenly remembered Zhu Houzhao's original definition of wealth. This situation made Pei Yuan agree more and more with it.

In the existing economic system of the Ming Dynasty, whether it was the output of the fields or the results of labor, they were eventually transformed into the accumulation of gold and silver and the expansion of land.

Those big families control a large amount of production resources and have abundant output. In an economic ecology that is basically self-sufficient, they hardly spend any money in normal times.

Even if you spend money, only a small portion of it can be used.

A large amount of gold and silver was absorbed by them and then deposited in the warehouses, and the inflow and outflow devoured the liquidity of the market.

With the prosperity of foreign trade, the southern economy absorbed a large amount of silver from all over the world, and then this silver flowed back to those bottomless warehouses like a trickle of water.

What happened in this process?

If the southern economy sells goods originally worth one tael of silver overseas at the price of ten taels of silver through trade.

This means that as the transaction was completed, their wealth was leveraged tenfold.

So, how can we make their wealth increase tenfold and obtain more concrete value realization?

That is, it made the Ming Dynasty more eager for silver.

Let every farmer who tills the land, every craftsman who works, every salaried official, every soldier who wields a sword, every merchant who walks the streets, every whore who sells her body, and all the people of the Ming Dynasty, pay for their inflated wealth.

This road now only has the last two steps left.

One is to monetize silver. The other is to make silver a legal subject for tax payment through the "One Whip Law".

In this way, the southern business entities that control the upper reaches of this silver river and use "leverage caliber" to expand their wealth can completely control the financial power of the Ming Dynasty.

The Ming government could not issue its own banknotes, and every ounce of silver it had leaked from the southern economies.

Even because they could not collect commercial taxes, in order to get the one or two taels of silver, they could only continue to exploit the farmers and force them to exchange their pitiful harvests for silver to pay taxes.

In this case, what is the difference between the southern economic entity that controls the "upstream interface" and "leverage caliber" of silver and the Supreme Government that is above the Ming Dynasty court?
Before, the imperial court could still use Zheng He's voyages to expand its wealth through leverage, but now the imperial court has failed many times in launching shipbuilding, and Liu Daxia has burned the data and nautical charts, so this path has basically been blocked.

With both sides already alienated from each other, the Ming court was doomed to fail if it could not control the currency.

This is indeed the case. In order to obtain money to deal with border troubles and rebellions, the imperial court had no choice but to impose additional taxes and levies on the peasants without affecting the interests of the civil service group. The peasants who could not bear the increased taxes and levies would launch new rebellions.

In order to quell the new rebellion, the imperial court could only impose more money and levies on the remaining fewer peasants.

——Until this dynasty was completely destroyed by the peasants who could no longer bear it.

Therefore, the real problems faced by the Ming Dynasty could not be solved by silver at all.

The most powerful class in the country was the landowners.

The main output of this landlord class was grain, silk, cotton, and a series of perishable agricultural products.

They naturally need to devour silver and gold to fix their wealth.

A country with such a vast land area and such a large population.

Even if Japan and Luzon were completely dug up and all the silver and gold were extracted, it would still not be enough to satisfy the landlord class's demand for liquidity.

Trying to satisfy the appetite for gold and silver while supporting the liquidity of trade will ultimately lead to exhaustion and death on the way to finding food.

Therefore, Pei Yuan has a clear understanding of this matter. If he wants to save the Ming Dynasty, he must save the Ming Dynasty's treasure notes. If he wants to save the Ming Dynasty's treasure notes, he must implement the One Whip Law and anchor the tax target of the One Whip Law to the Ming Dynasty's treasure notes!

If you want to forcefully implement the Single Whip System and prevent the monetization of silver, you need a strong army to wage a cruel and resolute struggle.

And if you want a strong and loyal army...

Pei Yuan sighed, looked towards the north, and felt a little pain in his balls.

——Xiao Zhaozhao, you have to do your best!
The Ming Dynasty of this thousand households depends entirely on you.

Just as Pei Yuan was silently making a wish, Chen Toutie, the leader of the Luo Sect, was also looking at his thousand households loyally.

It's nothing.

Just take a look.

Pei Yuan asked someone to collect the money, and then asked Chen Toutie, "Where do you plan to set up the headquarters of your Luo Sect?"

Chen Toutie had no idea what was going on and said obediently, "Please give me your instructions, Captain."

After saying that, thinking of the joy of winning without doing anything, he boldly suggested, "How about we also go to Yanggu?"

Pei Yuan flatly rejected it upon hearing this.

"The Qianhu Division has already established its roots in Yanggu. How dare you, a cult, set up your headquarters here? If this gets out, won't I have any face left?"

Chen Toutie felt a little regretful after hearing this, and could only say sullenly, "Then Qian Hu, can you help me choose a place?"

Pei Yuan thought for a while and said, "I'll give you two choices. The first one is to go to Liangshan." Chen Toutie objected immediately, "No, no, let's choose the second one."

He had also heard of "Water Margin". The people in Liangshan did not have a good ending in the end.

Pei Yuan didn't care, so he said, "The second one is Mount Tai. Well, since Luojiao believes in the Monkey King, it should be hidden in a famous mountain, otherwise it would be a bit unreliable."

Chen Toutie also nodded repeatedly, "Taishan is good, Taishan is good."

Tian Fu, the chief priest who had remained silent, hesitated and said, "Tai'an Prefecture is under the jurisdiction of Jinan Prefecture, and Licheng is nearby. Licheng is the residence of the Prince of De, and the three divisions are also there, with a large number of troops stationed there. Isn't it a little unsafe?"

Pei Yuan wasn't too worried about this.

"It's okay. The Taishan Mountains are vast and there are plenty of places to hide. You can usually move around in Tai'an Prefecture. Once the court wants to mobilize troops, take your people and hide in the mountains."

"It is impossible to surround and search the mountains on a large scale relying solely on Shandong's own military strength."

Chen Toutie hadn't paid attention to it before, but after hearing what Tian Fu said, he became a little worried.

He was used to being a Jinyiwei, so he subconsciously asked Pei Yuan, "Should I place some spies in Licheng to keep an eye on any movement of the troops?"

"Well..., that's not necessary." Pei Yuan said.

Chen Toutie felt that Pei Qianhu was a little too arrogant, and this might even threaten his future wealth and glory.

Therefore, Chen Toutie decided to speak out boldly, "Captain, it is better to be safe than sorry. My humble duties are not a big deal, but even if I die, it will not be enough to repay your kindness."

"But you have entrusted so many lives and fortunes to me. How can you have such a lazy thought?"

Pei Yuan was speechless. He looked at Chen Tou Tie and said, "Because this time, I was the one who took the lead in suppressing the Luo Sect, and Gu Dayong and Wang Chang cooperated."

"Do you want me to send troops over here right now to beat you up?"

Chen Xinjian, who was standing next to him, looked at his brother like an idiot.

Chen Toutie was embarrassed and choked to the point of being unable to speak.

Pei Yuan had already spent quite some time in Yanggu, so he did not delay any further. He asked his personal soldiers to make some simple preparations, and then headed to Jinan Prefecture with Chen Toutie, Tian Fu, and the more than 200 Jinyiwei who were brought to speculate on soybeans.

As for Sikong Sui, he and Huo Tao tried their best to convert the valuable items they had robbed into cash as soon as possible.

The group traveled in a hurry and went to Tai'an Prefecture first.

Pei Yuan subconsciously wanted to find a temple to stay in, but soon realized that it was not right, so he said to Tian Fu, "We can buy some land near the mountain and build a manor. We can hide our people there. Otherwise, with so many people around, it would be a bit conspicuous."

Tian Fu replied, "Student understands."

Pei Yuan looked at Tian Fu and smiled, "Do you understand?"

Tian Fu knew that Pei Yuan's question actually wanted to know whether he had changed his role well, so he simply said, "I understand. I will do what the White Lotus Sect does."

The White Lotus Sect is a serious cult, but its actions are not honorable.

Pei Yuan was very satisfied with Tian Fu's awareness, and said, "Very good. I'll leave you a hundred men, and there's some gold and silver on the mule cart behind, and I'll leave you a cart too. You can go and establish a foundation for Luo Sect."

Ever since Tian Fu knew Pei Yuan's plan, he had already gone over what he was going to do in the future countless times in his mind.

Hearing that Pei Yuan was starting to let him do things, he couldn't help but feel a little emotional.

He is a master of diplomacy!

What the strategists love most is a chaotic world that allows them to maneuver and manipulate the power of the world!
Pei Yuan's previous actions and occasional words had already made Tian Fu realize that the man was the source of the trouble that started the chaos.

When he thought that his skills would finally be put to good use, Tian Fu said excitedly, "I understand. I will definitely show my ability to the thousand households."

"Yes, very good. We must hurry. After we finish our work in Licheng, we will come back to join you. By then, there may be a large number of people who need you to settle."

The land tax was also clear, "Don't worry, Qianhu, I know what to do."

Pei Yuan smiled and said, "That's right, you are a strategist, you are best at persuading others."

Tian Fu quickly stole a glance at Pei Yuan, and seeing that there was no grudge on his face, he smiled awkwardly, "In front of the thousand households, the student dare not be arrogant."

Pei Yuan appeased Tian Fu, and then directly divided the team into two, leaving some manpower and money to Tian Fu, and he took Chen Toutie and the rest of the team to find another place to live.

After passing Tai'an Prefecture, we soon arrived in Licheng.

Jinan Prefecture is the first of the six prefectures in Shandong, with a total of four states and twenty-six counties under its jurisdiction, covering a very large area.

The prefectures under its jurisdiction are Tai'an, Dezhou, Wuding and Binzhou.

The other directly-administered counties are: Licheng, Zhangqiu, Zouping, Zibo, Changshan, Xincheng, Qihe, Qidong, Jiyang, Yucheng, Linyi, Changqing, Feicheng, Qingcheng, Lingxian, etc.

Licheng was the most prosperous place. It not only had the Prince De’s Palace, but was also the residence of the Three Departments.

After the imperial court urged the prefectures and counties in Shandong to capture the Luojiao members in their territory, the Luojiao members escorted by the prefectures and counties were in Licheng.

According to past practice, these criminals should have been sent to the Judicial Commissioner's Office first, but because Luo Jiao's incident had angered the emperor, he dealt with the matter specially and sent them all to the Governor's Office.

Some time ago, Qiu Ju, the eunuch in charge of the Western Factory, brought some bigwigs and imperial guards to set up the Western Factory headquarters in Licheng to supervise the Luo Jiao case.

A few days later, even the Western Factory's supervisor Gu Dayong came to Shandong in person.

Shandong officials were immediately aware of such standards and the court's attitude.

This is a real treat for Luo Jiao!

Some well-informed states and counties even rushed to send a second batch of Polo believers in order to show their attitude.

The facts also proved to Shandong officials that the court's concerns were not wrong.

Not long after the Western Factory was established, news came from the eunuch Bi Zhen who was on a patrol in Yanggu.

It was said that the Yanggu County government office was attacked by members of the Luojiao sect. The Yanggu County Magistrate Chen Lang died on the spot, and Pei, the captain of the Zhenxie Qianhu Unit who was in charge of supervising the Luojiao case, was also slightly injured.

It was initially determined that Luojiao was targeting the imperial court.

The arrogance of the attitude is beyond words.

Therefore, when Shandong Governor Wang Chang and Western Factory Supervisor Gu Dayong brought up the matter of Luo Jiao again, no one dared to take it lightly anymore.

Soon, the number of cult members gathered by the Governor's Office from various counties and prefectures exceeded one thousand.

These are the villains who were screened out by officials from various states and counties through their diligent and sleepless work.

Following Pei Yuan's instructions, Wang Chang transferred half of the people to the Western Factory Headquarters. He did not interrogate them afterwards, but had them imprisoned.

(End of this chapter)