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

Chapter 558 Rhetoric
Pei Yuan said half-truthfully, "Although this Xinghe Guarding Thousand Households Office is not as good as other places, it is worse than waiting to die at Longmen Office."

"I am not partial to that subordinate, and I am reluctant to let him die for the court. But it is too much of a joke to let him take up such an important post without any troops or horses."

"If he is really allowed to be defeated by the barbarians at the Longmen Guarding Thousand Households, it will not only damage the northern border defense, but I'm afraid that the officials who recommended us will not be able to escape responsibility."

Jiang Bin was slightly moved after hearing this.

If for no other reason, it would be Jiang Bin who would be the one to introduce the matter to Xuanfu.

Although it feels great to trick Pei Yuan, it’s best not to involve yourself.

From this perspective, the Longmen Guarding Thousand Households Office is indeed not a good choice.

But Jiang Bin was still puzzled. "Then what do you want this Xinghe Guarding Thousand Households Unit for? Since decades ago, the Xinghe Guarding Thousand Households Unit has only been a name in the Xuanfu camp. Even if you want to go there, there are no soldiers or food."

"That's fine, but the main thing is that this thousand-household unit doesn't have a base yet."

"You can't start a border conflict and take Xinghe City back from the Tatars, right?"

Pei Yuan said seriously, "You are right, brother. I want to take Xinghe City back from the Tatars and defend it again."

Jiang Bin was startled and looked at Pei Yuan as if he was looking at a seriously ill person.

But Pei Yuan continued, "If there are no soldiers, then the Guarding Thousand Households will recruit soldiers on their own. If there are no food and wages, then the Guarding Thousand Households will prepare food and wages on their own. In places where there are no garrisons, the Guarding Thousand Households can also temporarily station troops in the wilderness and idle fields of the border town."

"When the time is right, there will naturally be an opportunity to restore the old place."

"Although I, Pei Yuan, am not talented, I also want to make a difference."

Jiang Bin looked at Pei Yuan with a strange expression. He naturally would not believe such nonsense.

He lowered his head and pondered, muttering, "Xinghe Qianhu Suo, Xinghe Qianhu Suo..."

After thinking for a while, and thinking about the location of Xinghe City, he suddenly had an idea and asked Pei Yuan, "Are you asking people to take advantage of the opportunity to travel to Xinghe to sell salt and tea to the outside world?"

"What?" Pei Yuan was stunned by what Jiang Bin said.

Jiang Bin thought about the possibility of this matter and became somewhat certain.

"Xinghe City is far outside the Great Wall. If you get the post of Xinghe Guarding Thousand Households, you can naturally send your troops out of the Great Wall from time to time in the name of inspection."

"If we take advantage of the opportunity to sell salt and tea, it will be a great way to make money."

As he said this, he looked at Pei Yuan as if he had seen through the truth.

Pei Yuan was really impressed by these old soldiers in the border towns. They could really link everything to smuggling.

Pei Yuan was too lazy to explain too much, "Believe it or not, why don't you exchange it with me for another guarding thousand households."

"I'm not afraid to tell you the truth. The emperor likes military affairs now, and I'm just taking the opportunity to curry favor with him. If one day the emperor doesn't like military affairs anymore, do you think I'll still care about you guys?"

"Besides, you have eleven guards and multiple guarding thousand-household units in the Wanquan Division of Xuanfu Town alone. How can I, with the empty title of Xinghe Division, compare with you?"

"It's just a small matter, but you did it so ugly. I really underestimated you."

After listening to Pei Yuan's words, Jiang Bin pondered for a while, but didn't say anything more.

In fact, the conditions given by Liu Jing on behalf of his father Liu Huai were very broad.

Even the few thousand-household garrisons that Jiang Bin had just rejected were included in the quotation.

Now that Pei Yuan only wants the empty title of Xinghe Institute, it is relatively speaking a more acceptable condition.

Jiang Bin smiled again, "Look at you, why are you still anxious?"

"This Xinghe Office has not been discussed before, and I still need to discuss it with others. However, as your brother, I am putting my words here. Even if I have to sacrifice my reputation, I will definitely take over this Xinghe Office for you."

Pei Yuan was getting impatient and asked again, "When do you want the results?"

Jiang Bin was straightforward this time. As soon as the matter was settled, he started to do favors. "With me as a guarantor, everything will naturally fall on me. Brother, you just need to go through the formalities of the Military Selection Department of the Ministry of War. Xuanfu will report this vacancy."

Pei Yuan's expression softened a little, "That's more like it."

After saying that, he didn't bother to say anything more to this guy, so he just got up and left.

Although Jiang Bin felt a little annoyed when he saw this scoundrel, he was still almost furious when he saw him leave so realistically.

Pei Yuan left Da Ci'en Temple and asked Cen Meng, "I want to go to the Military Selection Department of the Ministry of War to do some work. Who should I ask for money?"

Cen Meng hesitated after hearing this for a long time before saying, "I will ask someone to find out later."

Pei Yuan couldn't help but think of Chen Xinjian's kindness again.

If it weren't for the border affairs that required a brave and resourceful person to hold the situation, Pei Yuan would really be reluctant to send Chen Xinjian out.

Pei Yuan exhaled, "Ask later, don't delay Chen Xinjian's marriage."

In the Ming Dynasty, the price of buying an official position was not high, and the price of using connections was not high either. What was truly valuable was the actual position that could fulfill these powers.

During the Jingtai period, Pei Yuan's ancestor donated grain and horse fodder to resist the invasion of the Oirat Mongols and got promoted to the sixth-rank official position of a hundred households, spending only 600 dan of grain and fodder.

In total, it is less than three hundred taels of silver.

When Song Chunniang obtained the seventh-rank general flag official position with the help of the horse donation from the Imperial Household Department, she only spent 70 taels of silver.

Things got even more outrageous in the third year of Zhengde, when a new value-added service called "Promotion by Paying Silver" was launched.

In other words, your original position will remain unchanged, but your level will be promoted as long as you are willing to pay.

According to the imperial court, the commander of a garrison in a border town only needed to pay more than 200 taels of silver to be given the title of commander-in-chief.

Those generals in the border towns were happy to buy the value-added services at first, but later they found out that they had been cheated again.

This purchased title of Commander-in-Chief can only be regarded as an honorary title. It is not the title of a proper Commander-in-Chief, but is called "Nan-level Commander-in-Chief."

It is equivalent to getting a water-cool master's or doctoral degree in later generations. It might fool people at first, but you would not expect that the diploma will have the word "water" on it.

Although this is somewhat insulting, two hundred taels is not a lot, and even if everyone knows the truth, it will still sell well.

What is truly valuable is filling gaps, which is the process of exercising power.

The market price of the bribe for Pei Yuan's replacement of a centurion of the Embroidered Uniform Guard was three thousand taels. Pei Yuan had run out of money at the time, and finally took the risk and wrote a note to Gu Dayong for thirty thousand taels.

Song Chunniang's general flag should have spent some money, but it happened that Han Qianhu was in need of people, so she just nodded and signed the appointment.

As for the "Na-level commander" wanting to fill the position of a dusi, it is not a matter of money at all.

Now Chen Xinjian's position as a thousand-householder garrison commander has been vacated with the approval of Xuanfu, and the other procedures can be solved by spending money.

First, he spent money to find out from scalpers whether there were any extra blank official documents from the last time the Imperial Household Department sold official positions, and then bought Chen Xinjian's rank to the fifth rank.

Then, I went to the Ministry of War to spend money to complete the procedures for transferring from Jinyiwei to Xinghe Guard. This is... the beginning of capitalism.

Pei Yuan took Cen Meng and the others to have a simple meal at a roadside shop, and then took advantage of the busy atmosphere to go to Chen Xinjian's house to help him with the wedding arrangements.

Pei Yuan is going to marry Zhang Yunjun in a few days, and he is quite concerned about these matters.

Chen Xinjian lived quite far away, and when he arrived, he saw many Jinyiwei who came to help with the decorations. After asking a few questions, he learned that the bride had been brought back and they were just waiting for an auspicious time to hold the wedding.

The auspicious times for Ming people’s weddings were “lighting time” or “sunset”.

These have been mentioned in "Jin Ping Mei", which reflects the great trend of the times, and "The Story of Awakening to the World", which is full of curiosity.

Pei Yuan mingled with a group of single Jinyiwei guards, listening to all kinds of stories and rules, and found them very new.

After watching the excitement for a while, Chen Xinjian, who came out to greet everyone cheerfully, noticed Pei Yuan.

Chen Xinjian was about to pay his respects, but Pei Yuan waved his hand, signaling him to go on with his business.

The Chen family had been in the Jinyiwei for generations, and they lived a decent life.

When the news that Chen Toutie had become the deputy commander of Shandong Military Region spread a few days ago, all relatives and neighbors immediately looked up to the Chen family.

This time when Chen Xinjian got married, there were quite a lot of people who came to visit and join in the fun.

Pei Yuan even met high-ranking officials such as the Left General among the guests.

Yes, it’s Xiao Yan.

Xiao Yan came here not because Chen Xinjian was Pei Yuan's confidant, but purely for Chen Toutie's face.

Xiao Yan had dealt with Chen Toutie several times before, and they got along very well. When he learned that Chen Xinjian was going to get married, he came over with a smile and gave him face.

Apart from this, Chen Xinjian did not send letters to anyone else.

After all, some people value him and also value Pei Yuan's face. He understands this point.

Xiao Yan came over cheerfully and approached Pei Yuan. "I heard that you were the matchmaker for Brother Chen's marriage this time?"

Pei Yuan replied, "Yes, he just tried to steal the girl's wedding dress, how can we just let it go? Marriage is a serious matter, how can we treat it as a joke."

Seeing Pei Yuan's righteous words, Xiao Yan looked at him speechlessly, "You can just lie to your brothers with these words, but don't lie to yourself."

Pei Yuan said without hesitation, "I, the thousand households, must also set an example."

After that, he whispered to Xiao Yan, "To be honest, I'm getting married soon."

Xiao Yan was shocked. "You? With whom? When did it happen?"

Xiao Yan, who knew Pei Yuan's methods well, never treated Pei Yuan as an ordinary thousand households. This person wanted to get married, but he didn't know what kind of person he was looking for.

Pei Yuan was thinking about his own things with his hands behind his back, looking a little melancholy, and glanced at Xiao Yan a few times.

Ok?
Seeing Pei Yuan looking at him thoughtfully, Xiao Yan became even more uneasy.

What is this for?
Then Pei Yuan said to Xiao Yan, "You came at the right time. Can you help me understand if this makes sense?"

Reasonable?

Xiao Yan was just wondering when he saw Pei Yuan had already entered the state. He sighed and said, "Speaking of which, I have no choice."

Damn it.

Xiao Yan was confused.

When did this bastard start to call himself a lowly person in front of me? Is he so polite?
Then Pei Yuan said, "Captain may not know that some time ago, the four outer armies in the capital suddenly mutinied, putting the capital in danger."

"And all this is because first there were evil people spreading rumors in the market, saying that Jiang Bin, the most brave general in suppressing the rebellion, was humiliated and violated by me in front of the emperor. Then there were evil people spreading rumors that Jiang Bin had been raped and killed by me."

"Your Majesty asked Qian Ning to summon me to the palace and ordered me to put this matter to rest."

"I saw that the situation was critical and I was eager to prove myself, so I asked Chen Xinjian to go and challenge him. As long as we can prove that Jiang Bin is still alive, then the rumors of rape and murder will naturally be refuted."

"But I didn't expect that this bastard Chen Xinjian was so useless that he actually snatched the woman's wedding dress and sent it to Jiang Bin just to provoke him to come out."

"This angered Jiang Bin and made him go to Da Ci'en Temple for a decisive battle, but the rumors among the people became even more rampant."

"Jiang Bin cannot bear the humiliation, and the four towns also have the will to fight."

"In order to quell Huang Rumors, appease Jiang Bin and the four-town army, and save the Ming Dynasty from danger, Your Majesty has no choice but to grant me marriage to prove that I am normal and innocent."

When Xiao Yan heard this, he suddenly realized something and interrupted, "Wait, His Majesty has granted you a marriage?"

Pei Yuan was a little unhappy about being interrupted, "Nonsense."

Then Xiao Yan immediately grasped the key point, "Your Majesty is granting you a marriage with Captain Han?"

Pei Yuan said again, "Nonsense."

Xiao Yan immediately put on a calm expression, "Are you afraid of being beaten by Captain Han?"

Pei Yuan didn't say anything and gave Xiao Yan a look.

Xiao Yan understood, it’s just nonsense, right?
Xiao Yan now became more excited.

He couldn't hold back the smile on his face. "No, brother. With your character and talent, how could Captain Han not agree? You can go and ask him in person. Why do you have to be so undignified? What if this happens?"

Pei Yuan said coldly, tucked his sleeves in, "Your Majesty has written to ask before, but they didn't agree."

Xiao Yan understood. You want to seize Captain Han by force? How dare you do that?

Xiao Yan didn't dare to laugh, and asked about the details. "Since Your Majesty has already asked Captain Han's opinion, why would he agree to your rude request?"

Pei Yuan answered realistically, "Because I am more useful than Han Qianhu."

Xiao Yan clicked his tongue and was not too surprised by Zhu Houzhao's coldness.

But Xiao Yan didn't quite understand, "Then what are you doing, brother?"

Pei Yuan sighed and said, "To give Captain Han a decent excuse to play dumb. His Majesty's decree has been issued, and there is no room for change in this matter."

"But with Han Qianhu's pride, how could she be willing to be taken away by her subordinates in such a cruel way without knowing it? How can she face other people after losing face like this?"

"Once the situation gets out of hand, I'll have to come up with a convincing excuse to explain to everyone in the Qianhu Office."

Xiao Yan couldn't help but ask again, "What if Captain Han doesn't pretend?"

Pei Yuan folded his hands and sighed again, and after a long while he said, "Never mind, I'll take it first."

(End of this chapter)