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

Chapter 689 He's Waiting for Me
Lu Yong came over and asked, "Commander, are you going back to Zhihua Temple?"

Pei Yuan shook his head, "Just taking a stroll and having some drinks."

Lu Yong knew that Pei Yuan had something to think about, so he didn't say anything more and quietly followed behind Pei Yuan with Cen Meng.

Not far away, Yun Buxian hurried over and then bowed to Pei Yuan in a low voice.

Upon seeing Yun Buxian, Pei Yuan temporarily put aside his thoughts and asked him with a smile, "How has it been? Nothing major has happened at the Thousand-Household Office in the past month or so, has it?"

Upon hearing this, Yun Buxian quickly replied, "With a thousand commanders outside deterring the villains, how could anything serious happen?"

Pei Yuan asked with a smile, "What about the small matter? Tell me about it too."

Yun Buxian thought for a moment and replied, "It's still about the Xuanhu Sect. Kang Hai has sent another letter to the Thousand Household Office, which details the situation of the Xuanhu Sect even more."

"Kang Hai spoke very earnestly, earnestly pleading with the commander to save the people of Shaanxi and prevent his hometown from falling into chaos."

Pei Yuan subconsciously decided to postpone the matter until the "Single Whip Law" was implemented.

But thinking back on what I just said to Zhao Sui, it really hit me hard, and I haven't recovered yet.

Therefore, he couldn't help but scold Yun Buxian, "Do you know how devastating it is for the people of a province when a rebellious army breaks out? How can this be a trivial matter?"

Yun Buxian's heart skipped a beat, realizing that his understanding was falling behind that of Qianhu.

He hurriedly said, "This humble servant was confused, please punish me, Commander."

Pei Yuan had only recently been promoted, and he did not criticize his subordinates harshly.

Then he asked, "How many more of these 'small things' are there?"

Seeing that Pei Yuan did not blame him, Yun Buxian carefully considered the official documents that had come from various parties in recent days. "There is a sorcerer in Guangxi named Li Tongbao. He uses sorcery to lure thousands of people to form a stronghold, which poses a risk of rebellion. He is a Dong person, and there are also miscellaneous Miao people such as Hu Fuxiang and Deng Zongda who are in league with him."

"It just so happens that Chen Jin, the Grand Censor-in-Chief of Jiangxi, has transferred all the wolf soldiers from Guangdong and Guangxi to quell the rebellion, leaving the two provinces vulnerable."

"Lin Tingxuan, the Censor-in-Chief of Guangdong and Guangxi, urgently sought help from the court. Because the matter involved sorcerers, a copy of the relevant memorial was also sent to us."

Pei Yuan remained silent.

Can't these days rebellions be done cleanly, instead of all this superstitious nonsense?

I'm only getting a monthly salary of eight taels for a fifth-rank official, and I don't know how much I have to worry about.

Pei Yuan thought for a moment and replied, "The natives are straightforward and don't have many fancy tricks. By the time we respond, they might have already started their rebellion."

"When the time comes, the imperial army will quell the rebellion, and we won't have much to say to them."

"Besides, this is a matter in the south. You should transfer this case to Nanjing."

Yun Buxian agreed, but Pei Yuan asked another question, "What did the court say?"

Yun Buxian replied, "The court previously appointed Guo Xun as the General Commander of Guangdong and Guangxi, but he never took office due to the death of his grandmother. This time, the court plans to send Guo Xun to Guangxi to oversee the situation first, and then see how things develop."

Pei Yuan responded with an "Oh".

Then she remembered something else. "By the way, the letter you mentioned earlier, was it sent directly to our garrison?"

Yun Buxian said, "To be precise, it was given directly to the commander of a thousand households."

Before leaving, Pei Yuan asked the Yun family father and son to stay behind and gave them the right to open and read the various letters that came in.

After all, Pei Yuan didn't have the energy to deal with so many things at the moment.

Pei Yuan muttered to himself, "Why would Kang Hai write to me directly?"

Pei Yuan thought about it for a moment, and he didn't really believe that Wang Hua had suggested it to Kang Hai.

How much concern could an experienced official like Wang Hua have for a disciple who was teaching in the Hanlin Academy through a working relationship?
Moreover, Kang Hai was also involved in some political issues and was directly sent back to his hometown.

It was already more than enough that they helped Kang Hai deliver the letter to Pei Yuan; there was no way they would give him any special instructions.

Pei Yuan had a rough idea in his mind: could the person who sent the message to Kang Hai be Deng Liang, the commander of the Tianjin Left Guard?

Pei Yuan suppressed this thought and asked Yun Buxian, "Is there anything else?"

Yun Buxian replied, "Zhu Dangbi, the Prince of Dong'ou of Lu, prayed to the celestial being because his father was ill. Later, after the Prince of Lu recovered, Zhu Dangbi built a temple for the celestial being, hoping that the court would recognize it and bestow a name upon it."

Pei Yuan asked, "What did the imperial court say?"

Yun Buxian replied, “The Ministry of Rites said, ‘The royal residence is not allowed to use ancient sites to apply for names or to privately build temples and monasteries. The King of Dong’ou prayed for his parents, which is commendable for his filial piety, but it is not the way to serve one’s parents and it violates the regulations. He should be severely reprimanded and the supervising official should be punished.’”

Pei Yuan said, "The Ministry of Rites is also speaking the right way. If someone is sick, they should seek medical treatment and take good care of them. What's the use of abandoning their father to worship some celestial being? This is indeed not the way to serve one's parents."

Yun Buxian said, "Dong'ou King Zhu Dangbi insisted repeatedly, and the matter was brought before the Emperor. The Emperor's opinion was to let it go and not let it happen again. He ordered that the temple be added to the main temple and named it Lingying."

"The Ministry of Rites is very dissatisfied and wants us to investigate whether that so-called Celestial Immortal is a shrine to evil gods and licentious people."

Pei Yuan was too lazy to deal with this kind of lawsuit.

But then he remembered the matter of Zhu Danghu, the Prince of Guishan.

A thought struck him, and he said to Yun Buxian, "Even if the court rewards filial piety, it shouldn't only make an exception for Zhu Dangbi. Does taking good care of someone not count as filial piety, and only let the Prince of Dong'ou seek fame there?"

“This matter needs to be handled properly. We need to follow the formal procedures and let Sikong Sui handle it. He’s an old hand and knows how to handle things.”

Yun Buxian initially thought this was just a trivial quarrel, but he didn't expect Pei Yuan to take it so seriously.

So he asked, "What does the commander plan to do about this case?"

Pei Yuan thought for a moment and then asked, "Who in the Ministry of Rites is directly handling this case?"

Yun Buxian replied, "It was Jia Yong, the secretary of the Department of Ceremonial Affairs, who coordinated with us, and then Li Xunxue, the vice minister of the Ministry of Rites, issued the document."

Pei Yuan understood.

Li Xunxue, the Vice Minister of Rites, was very dissatisfied with the Dong'ou King's challenge to the established rites and planned to punish him. However, Li Xunxue did not want to get involved in the consequences, so he assigned the task to Jia Yong, the Director of Ceremonial Affairs.

Jia Yong, a mere official in charge of supplies, naturally did not want to be caught in the middle between the Vice Minister and the Prince of Dong'ou, so he decisively pushed the matter forward.

Pei Yuan said, "Praying to celestial beings is a completely unorthodox practice. Even the Ministry of Rites wouldn't dare to mention it. Rather than letting Prince Zhu Dangbi of Dong'ou gain praise for violating regulations, it would be better to say that it's a collective act of filial piety by all the princes, such as Prince Zhu Dangbi of Guishan, and so on."

"Have Sikong Sui investigate. When Prince Lu was seriously ill, I don't believe his other sons were heartless. They must have also gone to worship the celestial beings and performed such filial piety. Have Sikong Sui list their names for me." "It would be best if the other filial sons themselves could also add their names. I'm sure no one would refuse such a good opportunity to gain face before the Emperor."

Yun Buxian listened carefully and replied, "I will inform Commander Sikong shortly, but the corresponding official documents..."

Pei Yuan said, “I will write a letter, but we can’t do this by ourselves. We have to involve the Ministry of Rites. Right now, the one who wants to settle things peacefully the most is Jia Yong. He definitely wants a win-win situation. Let him issue a joint document with us in the name of the Department of Ceremonial Affairs.”

Yun Buxian quickly replied, "I understand."

Pei Yuan then asked, "By the way, what's the situation with Liang Gu, the chief clerk of the Ministry of Personnel?"

Liang Gu was a caged beast kept by Pei Yuan.

After being repeatedly manipulated by Pei Yuan, Liang Gu's mental state has become somewhat unstable.

Yun Buxian replied, "Following the instructions of the commander, I led one of his fellow villagers from Dongping to Dazhi Temple, and then wrote a letter to Liang Gu, instructing him to go to Dazhi Temple and kill this man."

"After the court session, Liang Gu went to Dazhi Temple without hesitation, carrying a short knife in his hand."

"He met his fellow villager in a secluded place, and before the man could speak, he slashed him to the ground, then changed out of his blood-stained clothes and left."

"According to our spies, after Liang Gu finishes his official duties and returns home every day, he still keeps an eye on the gate in the courtyard until he hears the evening drum sounding in the city. Only then will he take off his official robes and go to eat and study."

Pei Yuan chuckled and said calmly, "He's waiting for me."

Yun Buxian cautiously reminded him, "Commander, this man is a bit troublesome. Killing him is easy, but subduing him is not. Should we just let it go like this?"

Pei Yuan's intention to tame this man was obvious to everyone.

The thought of having to work with someone like Liang Gu in the future is enough to make anyone's skin crawl.

Moreover, Liang Gu is clearly on the verge of a mental breakdown. If we really bring people over, and they want to retaliate in the future, the consequences are unimaginable.

Pei Yuan laughed and said, "This knife is so fine, I've sharpened it to such a fine point, how can I break it so easily? Let's take another look."

After saying that, Pei Yuan said to Yun Buxian, "I remember there were two people who came from Dongping last time, right?"

Yun Buxian quickly replied, "There were two. One was sent to Liang Gu to be killed, and there's one left."

Pei Yuan casually instructed, "Find another temple and send a message to Liang Gu."

After saying that, he said to Yun Buxian, "You don't need to report to me about other things. I don't have the energy to deal with them for the time being."

After dealing with the Empress Dowager upon his return, Pei Yuan needs to quickly finalize Wang Qiong's appointment as Minister of Revenue.

As long as Wang Qiong is appointed Minister of Revenue, the implementation of the "Single Whip Law" will be much more effective with the strong support of this top financial and tax official.

Those miscellaneous matters are incomparable in importance to this.

Upon hearing this, Yun Buxian hesitated and said, "Would you like to hear about the money shop's affairs, Commander?"

Upon hearing that it was a private matter, Pei Yuan changed his tune and said, "Tell me about it. This commander can also take a break from work."

Yun Buxian then said, "After the commander left, I followed his strategy and gradually increased the price of the paper money. A few days ago, I had already pushed the price of the paper money to the level of 'five strings of paper money for one coin'."

“In addition, we also have slightly lower prices for daily fixed-quota purchases from other money shops.”

"When the price of the paper money was pushed up to five strings of cash or more, there was indeed a significant wave of selling, but fortunately we were well prepared and managed to absorb all of it. It just took a lot of money."

"Tianfu suggested that I take it easy, so the price of the paper money stopped rising and fell back to the level of 'five strings of paper money for one coin'."

Yun Buxian added, "These things were all done with the young mistress's approval. The detailed accounts of the daily inflow and outflow of silver were also sent to the young mistress."

Pei Yuan thought for a moment and realized that most of his accomplices had sold off their stock at prices above five guan.

In other words, regardless of other factors, at price levels above five strings of cash, they themselves have created a considerable amount of trapped capital.

These precious notes fetched high prices, with many trading at "two strings of precious notes for one coin" or "three strings of precious notes for one coin".

These investors who were trapped at low prices didn't want to cut their losses, and now that the stock is performing well, they can break even at any time. Of course, they are unwilling to admit defeat and leave the market.

The money shops have now established a defensive line at the point where "five strings of paper money can be exchanged for one coin," which still provides some resistance against the trapped positions.

Next, we just need to wait for the "Single Whip Method" to suddenly appear, quickly pushing up the price of the banknotes and breaking through the price level of the trapped investors.

At that time, most of the trapped investors who had already made a profit wanted to realize their time cost and then pursue further profits.

Moreover, the substantial benefits of the "single-whip law" will bring in a massive influx of funds.

Because as long as farmers' taxes are linked to paper money, only those who hold a large amount of paper money can obtain the entry ticket for exchanging grain for paper money.

The precious paper money in Pei Yuan's hands can be directly injected as capital to revitalize the Luo Sect, allowing it to immediately launch a grain-paper money exchange program throughout Shandong.

There was an official guideline price for exchanging grain for money when taxes were collected, and the profits obtained, after covering transportation costs, were not substantial.

However, once they received the grain, they could earn another sum of money by exchanging grain for money when the imperial court made expenditures and transfer payments.

Since the imperial court stopped collecting grain, it couldn't distribute it as salaries; what it could distribute was paper money.

After local officials received the paper money, they would use it to buy grain, resulting in another grain-paper money transaction and another profit.

At first glance, it seems that the officials are at a disadvantage, because their original salary was based on a certain amount of grain, and if they used paper money to buy it, the grain merchants would make a profit.

But don't forget that a large portion of officials' salaries was paid in various miscellaneous taxes and fees, such as pepper and sappanwood.

After various forms of material exchange, even a fifth-rank official with a monthly salary of sixteen shi of grain might not be able to exchange all the things he received for ten shi of grain.

In other words, the existence of the discount system already significantly reduced the salaries of officials.

Under the previous tax system, because society did not have enough silver and copper coins, farmers had to pay grain, weavers had to pay cloth, tea pickers had to pay tea, dye makers had to pay dye, and hunters had to pay animal hides and feathers...

When the imperial court paid salaries, there wasn't enough money to facilitate the natural flow of these goods, so they could only pay whatever they received, and everyone just made do.

By activating the paper money and re-monetizing the court's expenditures, the officials' actual salaries would be greatly increased.

Those who farm, spin cloth, pick tea, and produce dyes, in order to obtain the precious currency, will push commerce to break free from the rigid allocation mechanism of the national treasury and circulate on its own.

(End of this chapter)