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

Chapter 524 Rumors stop with wise men

Pei Yuan immediately bowed and took his leave.

Zhu Houzhao was watching Pei Yuan's disappearing back, as if thinking about something, when Qian Ning came up to him.

Zhu Houzhao casually asked Qian Ning, "Pei Yuan just asked me to grant him a marriage. What do you think?"

Qian Ning had received Pei Yuan's instructions before, but he didn't expect that the time to fulfill them would come so soon.

Thinking about what Pei Yuan had just said, that if by chance he had made some meritorious service, he would go to the emperor and ask him to speak for him.

Qian Ning pretended to be displeased and said, "How can Pei Yuan be so ignorant? Since ancient times, only favors come from the emperor. How can you ask for rewards from the emperor yourself?"

Zhu Houzhao replied nonchalantly, "It has nothing to do with him. He has made great contributions this time, and I am happy, so I promised to let him choose his own reward."

"He didn't want the title of Marquis, and even rejected the titles of Left and Right Commander. He only wanted to marry Han Qianhu."

"If you count it that way, he even knows his limits."

Qian Ning asked calmly, "Is Pei Yuan's contribution great?"

Zhu Houzhao gave what he considered to be a fair assessment, "It was indeed a great success. It saved the court from the suffering of war. It is not an exaggeration to say that it saved countless lives."

Qian Ning was puzzled and asked, "If that's the case, why doesn't Your Majesty help him and simply grant him a marriage?"

Zhu Houzhao said calmly, "The Thousand Households for Suppressing Evils are different from other places. They hunt down evil cults all year round and have a great deterrent effect on temples and palaces in various places. These places where filth and dirt are hidden are corners that my Ming Dynasty imperial power cannot touch."

"Just a few bandits who raise horses can sweep up an army of thousands of elite cavalrymen and more than 100,000 soldiers in Bazhou, which is more than a hundred miles away from the capital. How dare I underestimate the power of such a mob?"

Qian Ning asked in confusion, "If that's the case, Your Majesty, why don't you completely wipe out those traitors who dare to oppose the court and let the imperial power penetrate deep into the end of the Ming Dynasty."

Zhu Houzhao smiled self-deprecatingly, "Because... I rely on the local sages and elders behind those people to rule the entire Ming Dynasty."

"I rely on the army to control the prefectures and counties, and they rely on thugs to control the countryside."

"The emperor is far away and the power of the emperor does not extend beyond the county level. This is a compromise that everyone has tacitly accepted, and it is also a rough but practical division of labor."

"How can I track it down?"

"Rather than letting them gang up against me, it is better to let them fight among themselves. As long as the taxes, grain and corvée can be collected normally, I can only turn a blind eye to the things that cannot be done."

Qian Ning paused for a moment, waiting for Zhu Houzhao to recover, and then asked, "Then Your Majesty, do you want to ask Captain Han's opinion?"

Zhu Houzhao was silent for a moment, then replied, "I sent someone to ask her opinion before, and she disagreed."

Qian Ning remained silent after hearing this.

Zhu Houzhao's eyes moved, "What do you think?"

Seeing that Zhu Houzhao was still asking for his opinion, Qian Ning immediately grasped Zhu Houzhao's thoughts.

What a treacherous villain.

It's nothing more than giving a push when the master wants to do something.

He immediately asked again, "Is Pei Yuan's contribution this time great enough?"

Zhu Houzhao said nothing.

He had already answered this question just now, and he also understood that Qian Ning's meaning was not to question it, but to emphasize the point again.

Qian Ning said decisively, "There aren't that many people who are in love with each other in this world. Captain Pei is a first-class man in both appearance and talent. Your Majesty is granting the marriage between the two. Isn't that unfair to Captain Han?"

Then, Qian Ning's words became cold and realistic. He was like a qualified treacherous minister, offering slanderous words that would make the king violate morality. "If two people really love each other..., how can it be considered a reward?"

Zhu Houzhao was a heartless monarch to begin with. After hearing Qian Ning's words, his intention to betray Han Qianhu Shi En and Pei Yuan temporarily overwhelmed his other concerns.

Zhu Houzhao said no more about this matter, turned around, walked up the stairs and entered the Yongshou Marquis's Mansion.

Pei Yuan walked out of the long alley outside.

As he was walking, he suddenly stopped and looked at the market on one side and the palace wall on the other.

Is it a fish or a dragon?
This thought inexplicably appeared in Pei Yuan's mind again.

As the Luo sect was cleansed, Chen Toutie took the opportunity to infiltrate the Shandong Regional Military Commission, and Pei Yuan had already vaguely seen a bright future.

He had jumped out of the mud and was ready to become someone great.

Even more, he wanted to get the woman whom he regarded as his white moonlight.

Pei Yuan stood there, immersed in enjoying the satisfaction of this moment.

Just as he was feeling happy and daydreaming, the personal soldiers who had been waiting for a long time surrounded him.

But everyone's expressions were a little strange.

Those expressions seemed to express a kind of sincere admiration for "Captain Pei's might", and there seemed to be something wrong.

Pei Yuan calmed down his emotions and looked at his number one lackey, Chen Xinjian, "What's going on?"

Chen Xinjian looked calm and composed, and answered in a businesslike manner, "Although there are some rumors that Qianhu doesn't need to pay attention to, we still have to be wary of their influence."

Pei Yuan frowned.

Chen Xinjian didn't have a frivolous look on his face, which made him feel that things might not be that simple.

Seeing Pei Yuan's expression, Chen Xinjian could only bite the bullet and continue talking.

"Yes, just now someone from the Imperial Guard came out to deliver a saddle. After they knew we were the personal soldiers of Qian Hu, they gave the saddle to us. They... also said some unpleasant things."

Pei Yuan became suspicious and asked, "What are you talking about?"

Chen Xinjian still said in a serious tone, "It is said that Qian Hu is the most powerful real man in Jinyiwei."

"It also said that Jiang Bin dared to challenge the commander, and was almost held down and raped by the commander in front of the emperor."

Chen Xinjian added, "Take off your pants..."

Pei Yuan couldn't help but suffocate.

He immediately flew into a rage and said, "How dare this bastard spread rumors about me!"

Seeing Pei Yuan getting angry, Chen Xinjian quickly gave a rational analysis, "Jiang Bin's story has been spread among the Jinyiwei before. He killed Captain Zhou Qi in public, which has already angered everyone."

"But firstly, the emperor favors him, and secondly, Jiang Bin is extremely brave, so the Jinyiwei can't do anything to Jiang Bin, whether openly or secretly. Even a commander-in-chief like Qian Ning can only swallow his anger."

"The thousand households have embarrassed Jiang Bin, so of course they want to exaggerate the matter and make Jiang Bin lose face and become a laughing stock."

"Although this incident will offend Jiang Bin badly, the captain beat him unconscious in front of the emperor, and he already had an enemy with him. The captain can win the hearts of the Jinyiwei through this incident."

"After all, we are also Jinyiwei. We are not the same as the people of Beizhen. We will be affected to some extent."

"In the future, when brothers are doing business in the capital, it may be much easier to use the title of Qianhu."

Pei Yuan didn't care about these interests at the moment. His face flushed and he argued angrily, "No, this kind of thing?" Chen Xinjian was also helpless and advised, "This, it's probably spread by now. Qianhu, think more open-mindedly, rumors stop at the wise."

Pei Yuan was not the kind of person who was willing to suffer a loss, so he immediately said angrily, "Send someone out to dispel the rumor. What the hell is this?"

After this incident, Pei Yuan suddenly realized a problem.

As a time traveler, how could he ignore public opinion control?

In the past, he was just an unknown captain of the Jinyiwei, and public opinion, no matter how strong the wind was, could not reach him.

But now, although he is still an unknown captain of the Jinyiwei, the forces behind him are so huge that he can be easily blown away by the wind.

The great debate at the time forced He Jian to leave, contributed to the split between Yang Tinghe and Yang Yiqing, enabled Wang Hua to become one of the Seven Ministers, and prevented Li Shishi from retiring early.

It even helped Gu Dayong and Lu Ting to increase their reputation significantly.

And the original origin of all these things, wasn't it because the civil officials wanted Lu Wan to personally clean up the remnants of Liu Jin, hand in his letter of surrender, and then threaten Pei Yuan's number one henchman, Wang Chang, the governor of Shandong?

As Pei Yuan's business grew, all kinds of things began to become closely related to him passively, especially the guidance of public opinion, which easily put some small things in the spotlight.

The best way to control public opinion is to gain control of the discourse power of scholars.

So who should we target if we want to gain the right to speak in Shilin?
Pei Yuan silently had the answer in his mind, that is, those scholars who have not yet passed the imperial examination and obtained an official position, as well as those officials who only have minor positions and have little hope of promotion.

They are the ones with the loudest voices.

Because they can afford to lose, they have very little to lose, but they can gain a lot by taking a risk.

Pei Yuan immediately thought of his own Crouching Dragon and Phoenix Chick. These two guys had instigated the candidates to detonate the Liang Ci case. In addition to protecting their own interests, they must have had such a speculative mentality.

Since we have these two knowledgeable people, we can let them do these things after they finish the imperial examinations.

Pei Yuan felt slightly relieved, but his face was still gloomy.

It was only then that the others realized something was wrong, and belatedly changed into the same formal clothes as Chen Xinjian.

Pei Yuan returned to Zhihua Temple in a depressed mood. He had been very happy, but now he was in a bad mood.

Chen Xinjian asked cautiously, "Captain, what should we do with this saddle?"

Pei Yuan then came back to his senses.

He pondered for a moment and asked, "I remember Zhao Sui once wrote a letter to the emperor."

Chen Xinjian replied, "It is true."

Pei Yuan hummed, then ordered, "Send someone to check the original. If they can't find it, go..."

Pei Yuan paused for a moment. He originally wanted to ask Chen Xinjian to find Lu Ting and ask him to check the inner study to see if there were any relevant archives.

But then he thought of what Tian Fu reminded him.

Before meeting Lu Ting and understanding his thoughts, Pei Yuan felt it would be better to maintain a sense of boundaries.

Pei Yuan immediately thought of Yin Sheng, the eunuch from the Imperial Household Department whom he had met today.

He immediately said to Chen Xinjian, "If you can't find it, go ask Yin Sheng, the eunuch in the Imperial Household Department, to help look for it in the inner study. I met him today, and he seems to be worth making friends with."

"You have met him before because of the Beijing debt, so you should go there in person."

Upon hearing this, Chen Xinjian asked, "Captain, we are not familiar with Eunuch Yin. The last time we settled the debt in Beijing, we relied on the face of Eunuch Lu Ting. Since we are asking for this, should we show some appreciation?"

Pei Yuan smiled and said, "No need, I just want to repay the favor I owe him."

Owing favors is sometimes a very high-level social interaction.

Anyone who faces someone who owes him a favor has a subtle sense of psychological expectation.

If the other party owes you a favor and appreciates it, then you can expect the favor to be fulfilled.

Who wouldn’t like someone who knows how to fulfill favors and has the ability to do so?

This is also the reason why Yin Sheng immediately showed a friendly attitude when Pei Yuan and Yin Sheng first met today.

Because he had done Pei Yuan a favor in the Beijing debt incident before, he had an expectation that it would be fulfilled.

In the absence of direct conflict, Yin Sheng certainly did not want to let all his previous efforts go to waste.

This was also the reason why when Gu Dayong threatened to judge the generals' achievements, he received a warm response from the generals.

Because they all felt that this was owed to them by that bastard Gu Dayong, and now it was time for Gu Dayong to repay him.

This has a very human result.

People who have helped you before are often more willing to help you than people you have helped.

Pei Yuan came to Yin Sheng for help again because of a not-so-small trouble, which undoubtedly accumulated more expectations from Yin Sheng.

As long as Pei Yuan continues to demonstrate his value appropriately and lures Eunuch Yin to continue increasing his holdings, he will be trapped sooner or later.

Seeing that Pei Yuan had no other instructions, Chen Xinjian retreated.

Because it involved the eunuchs of the Imperial Household Department, the other subordinates had no say at all, so Chen Xinjian had to handle the matter himself.

Considering that Zhao Sui was a rebel leader, it was too magical for him to write a letter to the emperor. Maybe people in the Ministry of Public Security had some impression of it.

Chen Xinjian first went to the Ministry of Public Administration to look for the Left Councillor Wei Ne.

When he arrived at the Tongzhengsi, Chen Xinjian was stopped outside the gate by the soldiers because he was only a general flag and his status was not high enough.

Unexpectedly, Wei Ne, the dignified Left Councillor, heard in the Ministry of Public Administration that a general named Chen Xinjian wanted to see him, and he hurried out to greet him.

Wei Ne's reputation as an official has been ruined, and his career as an official has been completely ruined. Whether he can turn things around now depends entirely on Pei Yuan.

Therefore, I can no longer care about shame at this moment.

After listening to what Chen Xinjian said, Wei Ne already had a rough idea in his mind. The original copy of this kind of document, which had been around for some time, must have been taken away to the inner study.

He didn't want Chen Xinjian to make a wasted trip, so he looked through the files of the handover and roughly set a period of time for him.

Chen Xinjian was overjoyed and hurried to Yongshou Marquis's mansion to look for Yin Sheng.

The Jinyiwei guarding there had already changed shifts and looked a little unfamiliar. Since they were from the same Jinyiwei lineage, they did not make things difficult for Chen Xinjian, but they just refused to help pass on the message.

Chen Xinjian had no choice but to say to the general flag officer in charge, "For Captain Pei's sake, could you help me pass on a message?"

The Jinyiwei chief flag was immediately surprised and asked, "Which Captain Pei?!"

Chen Xinjian thought to himself, that must be Pei Yuan Pei Qianhu, who is handsome, tall, mighty, full of wisdom, and unparalleled in the country, who in just over a year, sent a down-and-out eunuch to the position of the seal of the Imperial Household Department, and also controls multiple garrisons and a huge cult, has a solid foundation in Shandong, and holds the lifeline of the Ming Dynasty's canal in his hands!

Chen Xinjian hesitated, looked back, then dismissed his followers and whispered to the general flag, "Get rid of Jiang Bin's guy."

(End of this chapter)