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

Chapter 652 The Backlash of Power

Now that the imperial court is in such great turmoil, even Song Chunniang, who used to love slacking off, has gotten up early to go to the West Depot for her shift.

Then I suppose everyone else has gone to the government office as well.

Pei Yuan's goal this time was clear: to first find a breakthrough by getting through Zhu Houzhao.

The movements of other court officials are unclear, but Pei Yuan can easily grasp A Zhao's little schemes.

Isn't he just looking for an opportunity to lead troops?
As long as his demands can be met and a win-win solution can be found, it's not difficult.

So Pei Yuan took a few personal guards and headed towards the imperial city.

Upon arriving at the imperial city, one finds many officials who were being questioned about the "attack on the Imperial Censorate" exchanging their ivory waist badges at the city gate.

Unlike the officials whose waist badges only had their names on them, Pei Yuan's waist badge was something he could keep himself and was engraved with his name, which was basically the same treatment as the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

This inevitably gave Pei Yuan a slight sense of superiority.

Given my situation, calling me a permanent member of the Security Council (or a thousand-household commander) wouldn't be an exaggeration, would it?

It was much easier for Pei Yuan to enter the palace during the day than at night. When Pei Yuan, the commander of the Imperial Guards, showed his ivory waist token and said that he wanted to see the emperor, the guards at the gate led him in.

Pei Yuan seems to have a high reputation in the Imperial Guard. The guard captain even kindly told Pei Yuan this.

Because of a major event in the court, the emperor held a grand court assembly in the Hall of Supreme Harmony.

The Hall of Supreme Harmony is located within the outer court area. Given Pei Yuan's status as a commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard with an ivory waist token, he could have easily waited outside the Hall of Supreme Harmony.

If there is nothing serious, you can wait until the court session ends before having someone inform the emperor.

Pei Yuan knew that his status as a military officer was not respectable, so he simply waited outside and observed the situation first.

The guards' flag bearer led Pei Yuan to the outside of the Hall of Supreme Harmony, where he handed over his duties to a commander responsible for guarding the area.

Upon hearing Pei Yuan's name, the commander rushed over to see him, and before he even got close, he knelt down on the ground.

"This humble servant, Li Jin, greets Commander Qian. I am grateful for your kindness in helping me out back then."

Upon hearing this, Pei Yuan sized up the man and asked, "You're Li Jin, Li Zhang's nephew?"

The commander quickly replied, "Indeed, it was thanks to your introduction to Eunuch Lu that I was able to join the Imperial Guard and take care of my uncle. I am truly grateful."

Pei Yuan glanced at the guard captain leading the way, and the captain tactfully bowed and left.

Actually, Pei Yuan was being a bit too cautious.

That's how it is when you're serving in the Imperial Guard. If you have any powerful connections, these people would practically wear their connections on their sleeves.

Since joining the Flag Guard, Li Jin has made no attempt to conceal his connection with the Director of Ceremonial Affairs.

His colleagues all smiled when they heard this, and the commander of the flag guards often kept him by his side, intending to recruit him as his son-in-law.

Although Li Jin was using the banner as a front, he knew better than anyone how the connection between his family's remnants of Xiao Jing's faction and Lu Yin, the Grand Eunuch of the Directorate of Ceremonial, was established.

Therefore, upon seeing Pei Yuan, he naturally lowered himself to curry favor.

Pei Yuan recalled Li Zhang's energetic and lively manner when he last entered the palace, and couldn't help but smile at Li Jin, "Your uncle doesn't need your care. I think he's full of energy."

Li Jin quickly put on a smile and flattered, "With your auspicious words, my uncle will naturally have everything go smoothly."

Seeing how attentive and solicitous Li Jin was, Pei Yuan really wanted to call Xiao Ying over to take a look. Both were nephews of eunuchs, so he wondered what kind of family background Li Jin had.

Pei Yuan asked Li Jin, "So, you're the military officer guarding the gates of the Hall of Supreme Harmony today?"

Li Jin replied, "Our commander wanted me to broaden my horizons, so he assigned me to guard the palace gate today."

Seeing that Li Jin was sensible, Pei Yuan didn't stand on ceremony and asked directly, "I wish to request an audience with the Emperor. What's the situation in the palace now?"

Without any hesitation, Li Jin answered directly, "We're still talking about that case in Shandong."

Pei Yuan was overjoyed and quickly asked, "Whose idea is in the lead now?"

Li Jin replied, "The Emperor wants to personally lead troops to capture the rebels. Grand Secretary Yang means that those who dare to attack the imperial censors sent by the court to investigate the case are no longer ordinary rebels."

Pei Yuan was surprised, "He wants to mobilize the entire army? Isn't that the same as the emperor personally leading an expedition?"

Li Jin: "???"

Fortunately, Li Jin, being a man of family learning, though not fully understanding, continued subtly, following the previous line of thought, "Grand Secretary Yang believes that this case may be more complicated than the court thinks. To be on the safe side, the Ministry of War, the Ministry of Works, the Ministry of Revenue, the Ministry of Justice, the Censorate, and the Court of Judicial Review—the three judicial departments involved in Zhang Feng's case—should send people to handle the case together."

"All officials of the fifth rank and above in the Shandong Provincial Administration Commission, Provincial Surveillance Commission, and Provincial Military Commission have been suspended from their duties pending investigation. The court has transferred assistant officials from Henan at all levels to take over Shandong affairs."

"The local officials of Jinan Prefecture shall immediately imprison themselves in jail pending investigation. If there is any urgent matter, it may be handled in the prison cell."

Pei Yuan asked, "Are the officials in Jinan Prefecture also transferred from other places?"

Li Jindao said, "The incident occurred within the territory of Jinan Prefecture. Officials of Jinan Prefecture, as well as officials of all ranks in the four counties and five prefectures under its jurisdiction, must be dismissed. According to Grand Secretary Yang's intention, officials will be re-selected for these places."

Pei Yuan said "Oh," and suddenly seemed somewhat interested.

The rank of the Prefect of Jinan is the fourth rank, which is not easy to obtain.

However, officials in Dezhou, Tai'an, Wuding, Binzhou, Changqing, and the four counties of Licheng, Zhangqiu, Zouping, and Zichuan were not of high rank.

The appointment and removal of officials in these areas had to go through the Ministry of Personnel's Selection and Appointment Department.

With so many spots available to share, Liang Gu, as the head of the Wenxuan Qingli Division, could certainly have a say.

Tai'an Prefecture is the location of the Luo Sect's headquarters and has a strategic location that can be defended, making it a suitable place to establish a base.

Pei Yuan had originally planned to bring Tian Fu, the chief priest of the Luo sect, back to Shandong to take up a post. In that case, it would be better to find Tian Fu a position as the prefect of Tai'an Prefecture.

With this official status, it would be easier to implement land tax collection and reclamation in conjunction with the Single Whip Law.

At that time, with the Xuzhou Left Guard building ships in Linqing, the Luo Sect headquarters in Tai'an Prefecture, the Qianhu branch base in Yanggu, and the Jining Guard concurrently led by Chen Tou Tie, a line will be formed running through Shandong.

In addition, the five Hundred-Household Offices in the Five Prefectures will greatly strengthen Pei Yuan's control over Shandong.

As for Yang Tinghe's reasons for proposing this strategy...

Pei Yuan thought about it for a while and had a general idea.

The Zhang Feng case originally had little to do with Yang Tinghe. The only connection between Zhang Feng and Yang Tinghe was that Zhang Feng was the same age as Yang Tinghe's father, Yang Chun.

However, Zhang Feng later submitted an expense report to the Ministry of Revenue, requesting a considerable sum of silver. This request was rejected by Yang Tan, the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue. The matter eventually escalated, and it was Yang Tinghe who gave his approval.

This turned what was originally a small relationship into a complex one.

When Ding Hong, the commander of the Xuzhou Left Guard, reported Zhang Feng, and Jin Xianmin, the Shandong Provincial Surveillance Commissioner, submitted a memorial to the throne, indicating the possibility of a conspiracy, Yang Tinghe did not take the matter too seriously.

However, given the complex nature of the matter, Yang Tinghe couldn't ignore it. So, he sent his accomplice, Xiao Chong, to help Zhang Feng clean up the mess. Unexpectedly, with the execution of Xiao Chong, over a dozen censors, and two supervising secretaries, the situation suddenly escalated dramatically!

In this way, the minor trouble became the root of this super big trouble.

What was originally a minor relationship became extremely serious.

Yang Tinghe, who was originally sitting on a cloud of success, was unwittingly dragged into the mess by an insignificant person because of this small matter.

The channels of power he opened, even from the smallest details, finally produced feedback that was strong enough to backfire on him.

As long as someone connects the whole incident with Yang Tinghe's early cover-up, and puts that small relationship under public scrutiny, even if it doesn't ruin Yang Tinghe's reputation, it will be enough to severely damage his standing.

So, in this situation, what would be Yang Tinghe's best course of action?
Of course, the goal is to make the whole thing seem huge, while minimizing one's own small share.

After thinking it over, Pei Yuan couldn't help but admire this Grand Secretary Yang.

The news had only been in the capital for a short time, yet he was able to come up with such a prudent response. No wonder he redefined the Zhengde era as Yang Tinghe.

However, from a certain perspective, this seems to be beneficial to Pei Yuan's plan as well.

Pei Yuan's thoughts shifted, and he asked Li Jin, "What about the others? Don't they have any ideas?"

Li Jin said, "Minister of Personnel Yang Yiqing did speak up, but he didn't oppose Grand Secretary Yang's approach; instead, he argued for the person to investigate the case."

Upon hearing this, Pei Yuan couldn't help but admire Yang Yiqing, thinking that he truly deserved to be the Minister of Personnel in charge of personnel matters.

No matter what Yang Tinghe plans to do, as long as Yang Yiqing remains unchanged and keeps the person in charge in check, he will naturally control the direction of events.

In this way, he could sit back and watch Yang Tinghe, that cunning old fox, put on a show.

It can be said that both of them handled their exchanges very well.

Seeing that Pei Yuan was no longer asking questions, Li Jin asked, "Commander, if you have something to report to the Emperor, I can do my best to convey it to him."

Pei Yuan quickly replied, "No need, let's talk about it after the court session ends."

Li Jin tentatively asked, "Could it be that the commander has some confidential information that is not suitable for the officials to know?"

Pei Yuan replied vaguely, "I guess so."

When Pei Yuan and Zhu Houzhao presented their memorials last time, even with the Grand Secretary Fei Hong, who was known as an "honest man," present, Pei Yuan felt a great deal of pressure.

Moreover, with all the important officials in the court present, how could Pei Yuan dare to say anything reckless?

Li Jin then laughed and said, “Do not worry, Thousand-Household Commander. The Emperor has long been impatient with those arguments. He often uses the excuse of changing clothes to sit idly behind the palace. The ministers are afraid that the Emperor will bring up the matter of a personal expedition again, and they do not want the Emperor to interfere too much in politics, so they all turn a blind eye to it.”

"If the commander requests an audience with the emperor, I can help deliver the message, and the commander can meet him at the rear of the palace."

Pei Yuan was overjoyed upon hearing this, "That's excellent!"

Li Jin immediately left in a hurry, and returned shortly afterward, smiling as he said, "The Emperor was very pleased to hear that you had come, and is waiting for you in the rear of the palace."

Pei Yuan then followed Li Jin and quietly entered the Hall of Supreme Harmony, sneaking around the back.

Pei Yuan was dressed in the uniform of the Embroidered Uniform Guard. In the eyes of the court officials, he and Li Jin, the minor military officer on duty, were naturally like NPCs.

No one paid any attention to it.

The two men followed the edge, went around to the back of the huge screen, and saw Zhu Houzhao waiting there bored.

As soon as Pei Yuan arrived, Zhu Houzhao asked with delight, "I heard you're getting married? Commander Han really agreed?"

Pei Yuan's heart skipped a beat.

Although Zhu Houzhao didn't ask about his whereabouts, but only briefly mentioned his upcoming marriage, this still shows that someone from the Eastern Depot or the Embroidered Uniform Guard was monitoring his movements.

It was probably just routine attention, without any real investigation.

Otherwise, the fact that Pei Yuan had been away from the capital for many days would not be able to be kept secret.

Pei Yuan quickly replied, "Your Majesty, thank you for your concern."

Zhu Houzhao asked with great interest, "Has a date been set? What day is it?"

Pei Yuan hesitated for a moment before replying, "Uh, today."

Zhu Houzhao laughed upon hearing this, "I didn't expect you to actually manage to marry her. I had previously sent a secret letter to Commander Han to ask for her opinion, and she disagreed at the time."

Pei Yuan pursed his lips.

Even though he knew this fact, would you die if you didn't say it?!

Zhu Houzhao then laughed and said, "Later, you used your merits to ask me to grant you a marriage..."

Pei Yuan dared not admit to such a thing and quickly said, "Your Majesty, I only ask for a reward, and I am absolutely not seeking credit!"

Zhu Houzhao laughed heartily and didn't take it to heart.

The courtiers, who were arguing incessantly, suddenly fell silent upon hearing this sound from behind the screen.

Zhu Houzhao realized that he had gotten a little carried away and quickly quieted down.

Fortunately, the courtiers were used to Zhu Houzhao's unpredictable behavior, and they soon resumed their debate.

Zhu Houzhao and Pei Yuan exchanged glances for a while, and only when they felt no one was paying attention did Zhu Houzhao say to Pei Yuan, "That day when you asked me for a reward, I hesitated a bit. Later, I asked Qian Ning, 'Commander Han doesn't like you, but you still want Commander Han, so what should I do? Guess what Qian Ning said...'"

Pei Yuan thought for a moment. At that time, he and Qian Ning had just joined forces to deal with Jiang Bin, and they were still allies.

I also asked Qian Ning to speak on my behalf at the time.

Judging from the subsequent results, Qian Ning did succeed.

Pei Yuan then said, "It must be Qian Ning who spoke well of me."

To be fair, when Qian Ning is an ally, he can be really bad at things, but when he's being helpful, he's incredibly helpful.

Zhu Houzhao laughed again, but this time he didn't dare to laugh as arrogantly for fear that the court officials would hear.

Zhu Houzhao said to Pei Yuan, "Qian Ning told me that if the two of you were truly in love, how could it be considered my reward? It is precisely because you have been unable to obtain Han Qianhu's affections that my reward has meaning for you."

Zhu Houzhao showed no remorse for betraying another minister. Instead, he spoke callously to Pei Yuan, as if seeking credit, "How about it? Getting a woman who doesn't like you, isn't that quite an achievement?"

Pei Yuan is thinking about Empress Zhang again.

Ah Zhao, Ah Zhao, will you die if you don't tell me?

(End of this chapter)