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

Chapter 684 I Don't Want Your Opinion, I Want My Opinion
Now, with Qian Ning's strong encouragement, the Prince of Ning's heir has made his debut in the capital ahead of schedule, which will naturally draw the attention of the court and the public to the Ning Kingdom sooner.

Those who reacted quickly have already made their move, while those who reacted slowly are simply waiting for the best price to go.

However, Li Shishi was clearly too complacent.

Ning Fan is Ning Fan, and Li Shishi is Li Shishi.

Before the Prince of Ning enters the game, the first person the powerful figures need to eliminate is him, a key minister of the Ning Kingdom.

With Li Shishi, the minister who helped him rise to power, stuck here, wouldn't other bigwigs naturally have to be demoted?
Pei Yuan thought for a moment and then asked Xiao Tong, "What's the situation with Wang Qiong now?"

Xiao Tong replied, "The person who contacted Wang Qiong last time said that he has now left Shandong to inspect Hebei."

Pei Yuan cursed under his breath, "They ran pretty fast, though."

The imperial court assigned Wang Qiong a wide range of inspection and relief duties. He had been staying in Shandong for some time, which was to conduct preliminary investigations in Shandong in preparation for the implementation of the "Single Whip Law".

With the situation in Shandong now in such a mess, old bureaucrats like Wang Qiong, seeing the situation was turning sour, naturally decided to slip away.

Pei Yuan said to Xiao Tong, "Things have come to this point, and the Single Whip Law should be introduced. Go and inform Wang Qiong to prepare to return to the capital."

Upon hearing this, Xiao Tong felt that things might be a bit difficult to handle.

Wang Qiong and the Pei faction are merely allies, and such a person would certainly weigh his own interests before making a decision.

Getting him back with just a few words is probably not an easy task.

Xiao Tong then reminded him, "I'm afraid Vice Minister Wang might have his own ideas."

Upon hearing this, Pei Qianhu remained silent, looking up at the sky at a 45-degree angle with his hands behind his back. After a long while, he said, "Tell him that if we come back now, the position of one of the Seven Ministers might be within our grasp."

Xiao Tong was startled.

The position of one of the Seven Ministers!

Each adjustment in these locations is like a major earthquake; I haven't heard of any wind direction like this recently.

Then, Xiao Tong's expression suddenly hardened, and he looked towards the alley where Li Shishi had left, revealing a vicious look as he said, "Commander, do you want me to take men and kill Li Shishi?!"

Pei Yuan's gaze immediately shifted from a 45-degree angle towards the sky, turning away unnaturally.

"?"

He frowned and asked, "Is this how I taught you to do things?"

Xiao Tong wanted to say that this was how those vacant positions for censors came about, but judging from Pei Qianhu's expression, it was clearly not the answer he wanted to hear.

Xiao Tong immediately said sheepishly, "This subordinate was rash."

Pei Yuan sighed, then lazily explained to him, "I was talking about the Ministry of Revenue."

“After the Zhang Feng case broke out, Yang Tan, the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, was the most vocal. Moreover, when he rejected Zhang Feng’s request for funds, he publicly declared, ‘If you are of the same age as Zhang Feng, your request will be granted.’”

"It can be said that Yang Tan basically offended his superior, Sun Jiao, the Minister of Revenue."

"And then this huge incident happened in the Zhang Feng case. Guess who's the one most upset in the court?"

Without much thought, Xiao Tong replied, "It must be Sun Jiao."

Pei Yuan nodded and said, "That's right. Yang Tan, the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, has successfully humiliated Sun Jiao. Now that things have blown up, Sun Jiao only has two options: either resign or remove Yang Tan, the dagger pointing at his back."

Xiao Tong roughly understood.

He tentatively asked, "Does the commander think that Sun Jiao might be retiring?"

Pei Yuan shook his head.

Xiao Tong looked puzzled and asked, "Isn't that right?"

"Yang Tan had foreseen Zhang Feng's situation and had warned him beforehand, but Sun Jiao, out of consideration for their personal relationship, disregarded Yang Tan's warning and allocated funds to Zhang Feng from the Ministry of Revenue."

"No matter how you look at it, Yang Tan is the one who deserves credit, and Sun Jiao is the one who is at fault."

"Now that Zhang Feng has been brought to justice, and the details of his past embezzlement have been handed over to the court, the whole matter can no longer be ignored."

"If Sun Jiao were to resign now, he might still have a good ending."

"If we were to remove Yang Tan without regard for decorum, I'm afraid it would draw the attention of everyone in the court."

Whether this will succeed is another matter, but it will certainly bring him hostility from the entire court.

"Surely, as long as Sun Jiao isn't stupid, he'll understand what choice to make?"

In fact, what Xiao Tong wanted to say was that Sun Jiao had almost no choice.

If it was clearly Sun Jiao's fault, but in order to protect himself, he disregarded the dignity of officialdom and killed his deputy who had made the correct judgment, then Sun Jiao could basically be classified as a political terrorist.

Unless Sun Jiao can completely control everything, he will definitely be impeached by the censors.

At that time, we will have to pay a heavy price.

Pei Yuan chuckled and said slowly, "If we follow common sense, of course that's how it would be. Unfortunately, this matter also involves Yang Tinghe."

“Last time, when Zhang Feng requested funds from the Ministry of Revenue, Yang Tan strongly opposed it, even making the Minister of Revenue, Sun Jiao, lose face. It caused quite a stir at the time, and in the end, Yang Tinghe stepped in to mediate, and then the Ministry of War agreed.”

"If Sun Jiao admits his mistake and leaves, wouldn't that mean Yang Tinghe was also wrong?"

"Therefore, Yang Tinghe only has one path to take, which is to remove Yang Tan and temporarily eliminate this trouble."

"And if we want to take action against Yang Tan, there is a ready-made excuse that can kill him in one blow."

Xiao Tong thought for a while and gradually came to an answer, "Is it that major military supply case from last time?"

Pei Yuan laughed upon hearing this, "Not stupid at all."

Xiao Tong was still somewhat puzzled. "Although Yang Tan was in charge of the military supplies for quelling the rebellion in Bazhou, this matter is of great importance. If we really investigate it, even Sun Jiao, the Minister of Revenue, won't get away with it."

"Last time, this matter caused quite a stir. In the end, it was because Wang Qiong, who reported the matter, privately visited His Majesty, which angered the court officials. This allowed Sun Jiao to take advantage of the situation to expel Wang Qiong and suppress the matter."

"Even if Sun Jiao is stupid, he wouldn't bring up this old grievance. If he really does, it won't just be a matter of hurting the enemy eight hundred while losing a thousand of his own; it would be almost like he's going to die together with Yang Tan."

Pei Yuan smiled and said to Xiao Tong, "Think about it again."

Xiao Tong remained puzzled and could only try to ponder the mystery behind it.

The two were exchanging cryptic words when Lu Yong happened to come over.

Seeing the two of them like this, Lu Yong turned his questioning gaze to Commander Pei.

Feeling relaxed, Pei Yuan said to Lu Yong, "Why don't you try to guess why things turned out this way?"

As he spoke, he raised his chin and gestured to Xiao Tong to indicate that Lu Yong was involved.

With Pei Yuan's permission, Xiao Tong repeated the matter to Lu Yong. As he was speaking, Xiao Tong suddenly slapped his forehead, realizing something, and said, "So that's how it is, I understand now."

Then, before Pei Yuan could ask any questions, Xiao Tong excitedly took the initiative to say, "Although this matter is related to Sun Jiao, the commander has been focusing on Yang Tinghe from beginning to end."

"This was originally a crisis for Sun Jiao. But because Yang Tinghe was involved, the person in charge of this matter became Yang Tinghe in a roundabout way."

"It was precisely because Yang Tinghe was in charge of this matter that such an unreasonable situation could have occurred."

Pei Yuan praised, "Not bad."

Pei Yuan picked up the conversation and explained to the two of them, "If Yang Tan makes trouble afterward because of the Zhang Feng case, then Sun Jiao's best option will definitely be to retire. As for the reason, you have already explained it very clearly."

“Yang Tan has already offended Sun Jiao, and the relationship between the two is already difficult to reconcile. As long as Sun Jiao is overthrown, Yang Tan, as the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, will be the most natural person to be promoted to Minister of Revenue and become one of the Seven Ministers.”

"Therefore, Yang Tan had a strong motivation to do this."

"One side wants to be held accountable, while the other wants to admit defeat and leave. From a certain perspective, there is already an unspoken understanding between them."

"But what does Sun Jiao's retirement mean? It means that Yang Tinghe's intervention and the Ministry of War's attempt to smooth things over were also highly problematic."

Why did Yang Tinghe insist on passing this request for funds that caused the Vice Minister of Revenue and the Minister of Revenue to tear each other apart?

"Isn't it because of that saying, 'If you are of the same age as Feng, your request will be granted'?"

"Yang Tinghe's father, Yang Chun, was also born in the same year as Zhang Feng."

"Therefore, Yang Tinghe believed that Yang Tan was deliberately trying to block his path with his words, wanting to make him wary and make a judgment that was unfavorable to Zhang Feng. But this ultimately made Yang Tinghe rebellious and forcibly approve the request for funds."

"How could someone as tough as Yang Tinghe just stand by and watch Sun Jiao lie down because of this case that will implicate him?"

Xiao Tong and Lu Yong both understood immediately.

They had been following Pei Yuan around Zhang Feng's case these past few days and had already learned pretty much everything about Zhang Feng's connections.

The fact that Zhang Feng requested funds from the imperial court was already quite illogical.

It involves money.

Especially given that the second-in-command of the Ministry of Revenue explicitly opposed the move and was willing to break ties with the head of the Ministry of Revenue to oppose it, which seasoned bureaucrat would step forward to take the blame at this time?

Who wouldn't realize the enormous risks involved?

However, Yang Tinghe not only intervened and got the Ministry of War to take over the matter, but also issued an official document to subtly criticize Yang Tan, advising him not to let personal conflicts with Zhang Feng interfere with his official duties.

"Let Tan and Feng be of one mind and act with impartiality, without any suspicion or discord."

What difference was there between Yang Tinghe's actions at the time and his blatant support for Zhang Feng?

Pei Yuan concluded, "So, if I'm not mistaken, as an extension of the Zhang Feng case, there will be a struggle that Yang Tan instigates, but which Yang Tinghe will ultimately fight."

"If Yang Tinghe wants to win this battle, given his political acumen, he will definitely not choose the Zhang Feng case, a battlefield he is destined to lose. It is highly likely that he will start a new battle, bringing up the grain and military supplies case from the suppression of the rebellion in Bazhou again."

"The case concerning the grain and military supplies for the suppression of the rebellion in Bazhou did not involve Yang Tinghe."

"As long as Yang Tinghe eliminates Yang Tan and Sun Jiao together in the grain and military supplies case before the Zhang Feng case is concluded, then when the Zhang Feng case takes hold, without Yang Tan who filed the complaint and without Sun Jiao who was the defendant, he will naturally not be implicated."

Xiao Tong and Lu Yong looked at each other in bewilderment.

Why do I suddenly feel that Chief Minister Yang is a bit terrifying? Is he a devil?

Considering the familiar aura emanating from the unfamiliar demon, Xiao Tong couldn't help but boldly voice a hypothesis in his mind, "Commander, what if Chief Minister Yang didn't have this idea?"

"What I mean is, what if Chief Minister Yang hadn't considered using the method of getting rid of Sun Jiao to prevent Sun Jiao from being impeached?"

Pei Yuan looked at Xiao Tong with surprise and asked, "Why would you have such a thought?"

Before Xiao Tong could even offer a stammering explanation...

Pei Yuan calmly replied, "As a member of Chief Minister Yang's faction, even if Chief Minister Yang has made oversights, how could I not help him fill in the gaps?"

Good heavens, Xiao Tong understands now; his first guess has been confirmed.

Then, Xiao Tong became even bolder and couldn't help but voice his second hypothesis, "Commander, what if Yang Tan didn't intend to use the Zhang Feng case to bring down Sun Jiao?"

"What I mean is, what if the whole thing, all those troubles you just mentioned, didn't exist?"

"What if Yang Tan has no intention of taking advantage of the situation to kick someone when they're down, but instead plans to wait for Minister Sun to gracefully step down naturally?"

Pei Yuan smiled.

He seemed to have seen through something, and said with a mix of frankness and sarcasm, "It's hard to say, but I think it will."

Xiao Tong was speechless.

Pei Yuan's few casual words completely confirmed Xiao Tong's second hypothesis.

Therefore, the struggle for the position of Minister of Revenue, which is an extension of the Zhang Feng case, stems from Pei Yuan's three words, "I think."

Pei Yuan's smile remained unchanged as he looked at the two and asked, "Do you find it laughable?"

Before the two could respond, Pei Yuan suppressed his smile and said, "It's not funny."

He then said seriously, "The key to this matter lies in how Yang Tinghe views it."

"Everything still boils down to 'I think'."

"If we can make Yang Tinghe think this way, and before the Zhang Feng case is settled, let this tiger Yang Tinghe bite out and break the necks of Yang Tan and Sun Jiao, then what choice Yang Tan will ultimately make after the Zhang Feng case is settled, will it still matter?"

Pei Yuan spoke slowly but firmly, “Yang Tinghe will absolutely not let his political future be decided by ‘Yang Tan’s opinion,’ but by ‘my opinion.’”

"Therefore, I, the commander, can assert that as long as I, the commander, investigate this case, Yang Tan and Sun Jiao will be dismissed from office in the blink of an eye."

"This is what I mean by the real battle being in one's heart."

Upon hearing this, Xiao Tong and Lu Yong carefully considered the matter in their minds and were both deeply impressed.

He could easily take down and elevate the Seventh Minister.

No wonder he is such a powerful eunuch who commands the obedience of his two powerful backers!
Xiao Tong quickly said, "Should I also tell Wang Qiong about these things?"

Pei Yuan rolled his eyes. "Nonsense, otherwise why would I tell you all this? If I don't do him a favor now, am I supposed to wait until he becomes one of the Seven Ministers before asking him to uncover the truth?"

Xiao Tong thought about it and realized it made sense, although Commander Pei's intention to take advantage of the situation was a bit too obvious.

But to put it bluntly, it can bring peace of mind.

If Commander Pei does good deeds for people without expecting anything in return, who could sleep at night?

For example, his father, Xiao Ying, would feel empty and inexplicably uneasy after returning home unless he suffered some loss at the hands of the commander.

(End of this chapter)