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

Chapter 679: I'm not afraid of it being written in history books, I'm afraid of it being written in notebooks.
Then, Pei Yuan's gaze fell on the name "Zheng Yun".

If Li Mengyang's behavior is indeed despicable, then the "Zheng Yun" who was reported is most likely a relative of Zheng Yue, the Provincial Governor of Jiangxi.

In this way, by reporting on the Grand Censor Chen Jin in the name of the Censor-in-Chief Jiang Wanshi, and incidentally reporting on the historical problems of the Jiangxi Provincial Governor Zheng Yue, the three main officials investigating Li Mengyang were all put in trouble.

It can be said that he resolved the three difficulties on his own.

Does he think he's very smart?

This act of impersonating someone else to report others truly violates the rules of the game and disregards the bottom line of officialdom.

Pei Yuan still has some questions.

Li Mengyang's forged letter was not a formal memorial to the throne, nor could it go through the procedures of the Ministry of Justice. How did he manage to make this forged letter work?
Pei Yuan thought about it for a while, but still couldn't figure it out.

However, looking at the three documents in his hand, he realized with some excitement.

That hypocritical, lewd fatso Li Mengyang can't escape his grasp!

Pei Yuan thought about Li Mengyang's universally recognized reputation and the scholars who lingered outside Li Mengyang's door with their name cards. He felt even more that this person who could sound the horn of the revivalist movement might not be unusable for him.

Thinking about this, Pei Yuan even felt a pang of heartache, wondering if he had gone too far back then.

Don't hurt Xiuer!

After a good night's rest in Huizhou, the group continued north the next day.

Pei Yuan was preoccupied and frequently asked people to keep an eye on things in Jiangxi, wanting to know if Li Mengyang was dead or alive.

Deng Liang was deeply moved by what he saw.

He said to Pei Yuan, "There's no need for the commander to be so ruthless. Although Li Mengyang has no conscience, the beating he received was enough to vent the anger of Kang Hai and Wang Jiusi."

"They will surely appreciate the commander's righteous act once they find out."

Pei Yuan found it difficult to explain, and asked with some surprise, "Wang Jiusi?"

Deng Liang said, "Yes, Wang Jiusi and Kang Hai were both among the Seven Talented Scholars, and they were also from Xi'an Prefecture in Shaanxi Province."

"Because he and Kang Hai were from the same hometown as Liu Jin, even though they were both upright and did not show any respect to powerful eunuchs, they were still included in Liu Jin's eunuch faction."

"Kang Hai was forced to meet Liu Jin in order to save Li Mengyang's life, and was immediately dismissed from his post and reduced to a commoner."

“Wang Jiusi did not have the same reputation as Kang Hai and was not caught up in this undeserved disaster, but he was still implicated. He was first demoted from his position as the Assistant Magistrate of Shouzhou to the position of Assistant Magistrate of the Ministry of Personnel. Some time ago, because the rebellion was quelled and Liu Jin’s remaining followers were to be investigated, Wang Jiusi simply resigned and returned to the Northwest.”

"He was also very dissatisfied with Li Mengyang's heartless behavior and felt great sympathy for Kang Hai's mistreatment. I heard that after returning to his hometown, he has been writing plays with Kang Hai these days."

Pei Yuan understood. Well, another playwright of "The Wolf of Zhongshan" also jumped out.

This made Pei Yuan less determined about recruiting Li Mengyang.

He, Commander Pei, was not afraid of being written into history books, but he was afraid of being written into notebooks.

Pei Yuan immediately stopped mentioning Li Mengyang and focused on leading his men on their journey.

When they passed through Ningguo Prefecture and entered Yingtian Prefecture from Huizhou Prefecture, Deng Liang and Cao Xing were very eager to take their boss's boss to experience the romantic scenery of the Qinhuai River.

Pei Yuan was furious. Why didn't you say that when we were in Huizhou and Ningguo Prefecture?

Now that we're in Yingtian Prefecture, who are you two trying to frame?
Didn't you know that listening to someone's bed was a traditional skill of the Nanjing Imperial Guards?

Pei Yuan angrily said, "You have neglected your duties and have been away from your post for more than half a month. Instead of thinking about going back to work as soon as possible, you dare to have such frivolous thoughts."

Seeing Pei Yuan's anger, the three of them became embarrassed.

Pei Yuan was also afraid that they would misunderstand and that he would really not host any more banquets in the future, so he focused on blurring the focus of the matter.

He then spoke to them earnestly, saying, "Teaching those ungrateful people a lesson is just to vent my frustrations and let the world know that one cannot be so shameless."

“But the three of you have a bright future ahead of you. It would be a great pity if you were delayed by this villain. I’m doing this for your own good. You should go back soon so that no one will notice.”

Upon hearing this, the three men said smugly, "Commander, don't worry. There's been a case in Shandong, hasn't there? Jiang Shu, the deputy provincial inspector in charge of Tianjin's military affairs, has been arrested. Nobody can touch us."

"There's nothing happening on the canal right now, so it's a time for some leisure. We discussed this when we came, and we made sure to treat Commander De well."

Holy crap! Pei Yuan almost vomited blood after hearing this.

I thought I was here on an adventure with you guys, but it turns out I'm the only one on the adventure!
Damn it, I'm still under house arrest.

Damn it, you three idiots, you're going to kill me.

In an instant, Pei Yuan's previous joy at having the most powerful mouthpiece of the Zhengde Dynasty vanished.

Pei Yuan gritted his teeth and said, "You all better hurry back tonight! Anyone who dares to delay me, I'll kill him!"

Seeing that Pei Yuan was angry for no reason, the three of them had no choice but to slink away and readjust their itinerary.

After several more days of arduous travel, Pei Yuan finally returned to Dezhou, weary from his journey.

It was already mid-December.

After Pei Yuan arrived in Dezhou, he first asked Cheng Leixiang to summon Xiao Tong and inquire about his whereabouts in order to avoid being caught off guard.

Xiao Tong was overjoyed to see Pei Yuan, and the news he gave also relieved Pei Yuan.

The investigation came to a complete standstill because it involved Byun Hyeon.

Since Bian Xian himself is unable to defend himself, the best way to clear his name is to immediately stop interfering in the case and wait for someone else to take over before clearing his name.

Therefore, the entire investigation was not restarted until Wang Chang entered Shandong.

This investigation involves feudal lords.

In particular, it is necessary to find out who has now taken over the land in Dongchang Prefecture that was abandoned due to the invasion of the Bazhou bandits.

According to the prediction of corruption expert Bi Zhen, in addition to the horse-breeding lands seized by Prince De, many other powerful local figures should also have benefited from it.

If this were to spread, similar situations would be even more common in other prefectures.

The bandits from Bazhou attacked, looted everything, and took the people away. What happened to the land they left behind?

There's a lot of room for maneuver here.

Upon hearing this, Pei Yuan also recalled what had happened in Huai'an.

The powerful families in Suqian and Shuyang counties even openly asked Zhou Chao, a commander of a thousand households in Huai'an Guard, to act as brokers, and together they took out 50,000 shi of grain for the Bazhou army to plunder the two counties.

The local people were all kidnapped and forced into vassalage; what happened to their land?
As for Shandong, when the Bazhou army entered Shandong, how much of the local officials' practice of only guarding the cities and ignoring the villages was out of helplessness, and how much was out of indulgence?
At least what Pei Yuan saw was that after the defeat of the Bazhou army, when the bandits who went north were running amok in Shandong, they still received the support of the powerful families in Yanggu, who helped them intercept Pei Yuan, Xiao Ying, and Gu Dayong in Yanggu.

Pei Yuan murmured, "This matter is difficult to investigate; it will cause trouble if we do."

Xiao Tong said, "Governor Wang said the same thing. After the Bazhou Rebellion, a large amount of unclaimed land appeared in the six prefectures of Shandong, and much of the land was divided and swallowed up by local powerful families."

“If we want to investigate Prince De, we will inevitably have to investigate the territory occupied by Dongchang Prefecture.”

"Investigating the territory of Dongchang Prefecture could make the powerful families in other prefectures who own territories startled, fearing that they might also be considered accomplices of the Bazhou bandits."

"In fact, there might actually be some guilty souls who are colluding with the Bazhou bandits."

"The fear now is that someone with ulterior motives might escalate the situation to escape punishment, dragging others into it, thus forcing the court to back down because of the sheer number of people who are not subject to the law."

Pei Yuan had not expected things to turn out this way.

Feudal princes and officials are nothing to worry about. If you push the landlord class too far, it's no laughing matter.

He frowned and asked, "What happened next?"

Xiao Tong said, "When Bi Zhen, the eunuch in charge of Shandong, asked the Prince of De's heir, the prince was furious and instead gave Bi Zhen a thorough dressing down."

"Afterwards, the Crown Prince of De cited the Imperial Ancestral Instructions of the Ming Dynasty to criticize the officials who were investigating the case for sowing discord among relatives."

"Furthermore, the rumors originated as early as the Hongzhi era, and countless people spread them privately. To say that it was done by his confidants is simply a deliberate frame-up."

"Finally, the Crown Prince of De requested that the princes first convene a meeting to discuss the matter, citing the lack of qualifications of Bi Zhen, Wang Chang, Gu Dayong, Zhang Rui, and others."

“If all the vassal kings believe he is guilty, he is willing to go to the capital to present this matter to His Majesty and ask the Emperor to make a wise judgment.”

Pei Yuan couldn't help but praise, "This Zhu Yourong is truly a talented person."

As long as he displays this scoundrel-like attitude, knowing that they can't do anything about him, the officials in charge of the investigation will likely hesitate and be unable to act freely.

After all, we've all seen plenty of examples of people who, instead of killing the snake, ended up getting hurt.

Xiao Tong said worriedly, "Commander, if this case can't be pushed forward, I'm afraid things will get stuck here."

Pei Yuan sneered, "It's alright, someone can handle him."

The "someone" that Pei Yuan mentioned was naturally Zhu Chenhao, his loyal ally who had accompanied him throughout his growth.

Zhu Chenhao's heir is already on his way to the capital; he will be helping with the incense offering during the year-end sacrificial ceremony.

This empire was about to fall into his son's hands, and someone was trying to undermine the Ming Dynasty. That person was his mortal enemy.

Moreover, Zhu Chenhao had always been wary of Prince De blocking his way to the capital. The last time he had the bandits of Bazhou "purge the court of corrupt officials and support the virtuous prince," it was Prince De who orchestrated this.

Pei Yuan continued, "As for the matter of powerful local families encroaching on land, it certainly cannot be generalized. Those malignant tumors that actively harm the people should be eliminated. I plan to... I plan to..."

Pei Yuan paused, then suddenly realized he had been overthinking things.

Why should I bother with all that effort? I could just write to Liu Liu and Liu Qi and ask them directly.

Even if Liu Liu and Liu Qi didn't know, "Big Tiger" and "Full Sky of Stars" definitely did.

Now that Liu Liu and Liu Qi are no longer pursuing their careers, they can probably look back on the past with a more peaceful perspective. After weathering all the storms, brothers are still brothers; when they meet again, a smile can erase all grudges.

Thinking of this matter, even the usually humble and polite Commander Pei couldn't help but sigh, "If it weren't for me, Pei Ayuan, who would have been able to clean up this mess in Shandong?"

No sooner had he finished sighing than Xiao Tong nervously told him some bad news.

"Chief, there is one more thing, which may be difficult to handle."

Commander Pei laughed loudly upon hearing this, "What's so difficult about it?"

"I, a commander of a thousand men, can easily resolve such enormous problems as the disloyalty of regional princes and the unrest of powerful clans. You say it's difficult? Are you suggesting that the trouble you're talking about is greater than the sky?"

Seeing Pei Qianhu's arrogance, Xiao Tong was somewhat hesitant to speak.

Pei Yuan, having also experienced some painful events, immediately suppressed his arrogance upon seeing Xiao Tong's attitude and said in a deep voice, "Speak."

Xiao Tong said tremblingly, "Someone came from the residence of Marquis Shouning, Zhang Heling, to deliver a message to the commander."

Pei Yuan said "Oh," and asked, "Did you say what it is?"

Previously, Pei Yuan would have shown Zhang Heling considerable respect.

Even to avoid conflict with the Zhang family, who had significant interests in the Grand Canal, Pei Yuan delayed implementing his long-planned Grand Canal strategy.

However, with Zheng Wang's seditious rumors spreading, Pei Yuan no longer believed that Zhang Heling still had the same arrogance as before.

Should I avoid his sharp edge?
Once the two marquises of the Zhang family are dealt with, and then efforts are focused on eliminating the two obstacles, Huai'an Guard and Dahe Guard, Pei Yuan's Grand Canal strategy can be fully implemented.

This Grand Canal, with Shandong as its axis, connects the two economically prosperous and densely populated regions of Southern Zhili and Northern Zhili, essentially covering the most fertile areas of the Ming Dynasty.

Faced with Pei Qianhu's nonchalant tone, Xiao Tong hesitated and said, "At that time, Qianhu was not at Yongqing Temple. I used the excuse that Qianhu was under house arrest and needed to avoid suspicion to have the messenger leave the letter behind."

"But I didn't expect the people from the Marquis of Shouning's mansion to be so arrogant, insisting that the commander personally come out to receive the letter."

Pei Yuan's brow twitched, remembering the trouble Xiao Tong had mentioned earlier, so he asked, "You didn't hit anyone, did you?"

Xiao Tong quickly replied, "No, I know that the Marquis of Shouning's mansion is not to be trifled with. With the commander not here, I didn't know how to deal with it, so I had the monks close the temple gates and simply ignore it."

Pei Yuan thought about it and felt that there was nothing wrong with the solution; it shouldn't be considered a problem. So he asked, "And then?"

Xiao Tong then said tremblingly, "Then yesterday a eunuch came to the palace and said that the Empress Dowager was furious and ordered the commander to return to the capital to see her."

Pei Yuan was taken aback. "How come there's something to do with the Empress Dowager?"

That can't be. I didn't even see the messenger from the Marquis of Shouning. How could it have alarmed the Empress Dowager?

Even the most devoted brother-supporting demons wouldn't go this far.

Then Pei Yuan realized a serious problem, and his tone became somewhat panicked, "You didn't mean to stop the Empress Dowager's envoy outside the temple as well, did you?"

Xiao Tong quickly replied, "No, I recognize that eunuch. He is Jiang Gui, who serves the Empress Dowager."

Pei Yuan glanced at Xiao Tong and immediately realized that he must be one of Xiao Jing's former cronies.

"When Jiang Gui heard that the commander was inconvenient, he did not ask any questions and directly gave the imperial edict to his subordinate. He also instructed his subordinate to remind the commander that you have caused the Empress Dowager to lose face and that you should be careful in dealing with the situation."

(End of this chapter)