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

Chapter 701 Taking the Opportunity to Blackmail
Xia Ru stood there stunned for a long time before looking at Pei Yuan with a hint of despair, "Are you saying that my Xia family has no way out?"

Pei Yuan was about to take the opportunity to blackmail him when Xia Ru murmured again, "How could this be?"

Xia Zhu, however, noticed the situation and quickly advised, "Father, don't be in such a hurry. Let's hear what my brother-in-law has to say first."

Pei Yuan and Xia Ru both looked at Xia Zhu.

Xia Zhu gave an awkward laugh and shrank back.

Pei Yuan's impression of the boy immediately underwent a complete 180-degree turn.

Wow, he's actually quite promising!
At first, Natsume was indeed quite annoying, but after being taught a lesson, he did show some signs of becoming smarter.

Even though it was somewhat shameful, Pei Yuan's decision to have Xia Zhu kneel and cry in front of the Marquis of Shouning's residence last time seemed to have been quite well done.

Pei Yuan thought for a moment and then said to Xia Ru, "I think it's not right for Xia Zhu to be idle all day. Why don't you come and work for me? He's the Empress's younger brother, and he'll be the one to uphold the Xia family's reputation in the future. What kind of behavior is it to be idle all day like this?"

Xia Ru stared blankly at Pei Yuan, and subconsciously asked, "Does the Xia family still have a future?"

Pei Yuan smiled confidently, "Originally it was hard to say, but now it depends on your choice."

"If you all stand firmly on my side, I can work together with the Empress to accomplish great things."

"Otherwise... you know the consequences."

Thinking back to the ruthless and merciless manner of the Marquis of Shouning last time, Xia Ru felt that there was no other choice.

He tried his best not to think about Empress Xia and looked at Xia Zhu.

It was as if he wanted to get some encouragement from Natsume that would help him make up his mind.

But at this moment, Natsume was completely dumbfounded.

Why did that villain Pei Yuan target me?

Shouldn't they be like the two Zhang brothers, using their sister's easy win to achieve their own easy win?
Pei Yuan silently sipped his tea, giving the two of them a chance to think.

In Pei Yuan's overall strategy, Empress Xia was undoubtedly a crucial element.

Whether or not the Ming Dynasty could be successfully taken over during the critical period of Zhu Houzhao's collapsing power depended heavily on Empress Xia's cooperation.

Pei Yuan certainly had a clever plan to "entrust his son to Zhu Houzhao," but that was only because Zhu Houzhao's power was collapsing, and he had no chance to fight back.

At that time, Zhu Houzhao didn't even have the freedom to have the eunuchs pool their money to get him a new doctor.

Pei Yuan could, of course, take advantage of the situation to forcefully intervene.

Putting aside everything else, at least those border generals who were led astray by Zhu Houzhao would be overjoyed and support him if they heard that Zhu Houzhao had an heir.

Otherwise, if any other member of the imperial clan were to succeed him, they would absolutely not let go of Zhu Houzhao's hundred or so adopted sons.

Pei Yuan could speak on behalf of the dying Zhu Houzhao, and so could the court officials.

The will written by Yang Tinghe for Zhu Houzhao almost completely negated Zhu Houzhao's life.

Pei Ayuan, however, preferred to give his own son to him for adoption (it is almost self-evident who is the loyal subject of the Ming Dynasty).

In that extremely chaotic situation, Empress Xia's stance was crucial.

Even if she was not favored, she was still the Empress.

As long as she cooperates with Pei Yuan, Pei Yuan is confident that he can shake the most powerful neutral faction in the court.

In addition, as a loyal minister of the Ming Dynasty, Pei Yuan could not interfere too much in the affairs of the palace under such a chaotic court situation.

For the young emperor to grow up healthily in the palace, the assistance of Empress Xia, his nominal legal mother, was also crucial.

Pei Yuan certainly didn't want his child to be led astray like Zhu Houzhao.

After his conversation with Li Zhang, Pei Yuan was basically certain that Zhu Houzhao's being led astray was definitely not as simple as his childhood playfulness and indulgence.

Pei Yuan remembered that, according to the autobiography of a certain last emperor, he was ruined by the palace maids at a very young age and completely lost his ability.

This isn't something to be proud of, so the fact that they've admitted it makes it quite credible.

Moreover, thinking about it this way, it seems somewhat terrifying that Emperor Ming Xianzong was infatuated with Wan Zhen'er, who was nineteen years his senior, throughout his life.

This is by no means the love story between Sister Wan and later generations that has been distorted.

It is highly likely that Emperor Ming Xianzong was tamed by this so-called Sister Wan when he was very young.

It was precisely because Empress Xia's move was so crucial, and Pei Yuan had almost no opportunities to enter the palace, that Pei Yuan took the risk and acted decisively without hesitation.

To consolidate his gains, the father and son in front of him are his biggest bargaining chip.

Seeing this, Pei Yuan offered a few more words of advice.

"The Grand Eunuch Lu, the Director of the Directorate of Ceremonial, only had one nephew, Lu Yong, whom he treated like a treasure since he was a child. After Lu Yong was granted a title in the capital, Grand Eunuch Lu was afraid that the child would go astray, so he sent him to me overnight to learn manners."

"The Left Commander-in-Chief Xiao Ying's son, Xiao Tong, was adopted by his uncle Xiao Jing as his grandson. Xiao Jing and Xiao Ying were also afraid that the child would go astray, so they sent him to work for me."

"I think you don't need to worry about anything. Just let him be Lu Yong and Xiao Tong's helper."

Seeing that the father and son were still completely lost, Pei Yuan didn't bother to say anything more to them and simply made a blunt decision: "It's settled then. Xia Zhu, come over first thing tomorrow morning."

Then he stood up, patted Xia Zhu on the shoulder, and said with a smile, "I treat you like my own younger brother."

Too lazy to pay attention to Xia Ru, he walked into the back hall on his own.

Seeing Pei Yuan about to leave, Xia Ru seemed to have lost his composure and hurriedly called out again, "Wait, Commander!"

Pei Yuan stopped in his tracks, ignoring what Xia Ru was about to say, and asked him, "Has the Earl of Qingyang not reported to the Empress about his safety for some time?"

"Write a letter."

"Tell her not to worry about things at home anymore, that Natsumi is learning manners from me. Also ask her if she wants any snacks?"

Then, she looked at Xia Zhu, as if she had already forgotten about saying that she would treat him like a younger brother.

He coldly ordered, "Bring it over tomorrow."

After saying that, Pei Yuan ignored the two of them.

The Xia father and son left with worried expressions.

The next day, Xia Zhu obediently went to the Thousand Household Office to see Pei Yuan.

Pei Yuan took the letter from Xia Zhu and tore open the cover right in front of him to read it.

Pei Yuan didn't care what else he wrote.

Seeing that it mentioned Xia Zhu following him, and then glancing at the seemingly nonsensical question about what desserts the Empress would like, Pei Yuan's face lit up with satisfaction. He then casually asked Xia Zhu, "Was this written by the Earl of Qingyang himself?"

Xia Zhu quickly agreed.

Pei Yuan immediately summoned Xiao Tong, introduced him to his new follower, and then re-enclosed the letter in his hand and handed it over.

"Take this back to your father and tell him to find someone to deliver it to the Empress."

After Xiao Tong went down to run errands and took Xia Zhu away to learn etiquette, Pei Yuan finally had some free time.

In the following days, Pei Yuan kept a close eye on the exchange rate between silver and banknotes.

Zhu Houzhao offset the tax payments on paper money against the official price, referencing the events of the first year of the Chenghua reign, which indeed benefited the valuation of paper money.

Due to the long-term influence of Pei Yuan's "Quan" brand, many people in the capital have a vague feeling that "the price of the paper money has stopped falling and is slowly recovering."

But when they start paying attention to market prices...

It will also be evident that the value of the paper money is slowly recovering.

This was originally a subtle and gradual change.

However, Zhu Houzhao's introduction of tax payment as a way to offset the official price immediately brought the speculative frenzy surrounding paper money, which had been quite popular some time ago, into the view of the people in the capital.

If we simply give a price of "one string of cash for four coins", people might not feel much of a difference.

Because compared to the exchange rate of "one string of cash for two coins" in the fifth year of Zhengde's reign, it was only double.

During the bull market of Baochao in the past two months, many people made four, five, seven or eight times their initial investment. If it's just doubling, it doesn't make much of a splash.

However, Zhu Houzhao deliberately emphasized that the price was comparable to that of the first year of the Chenghua era, which leaves much to the imagination.

This was the exchange rate from over fifty years ago.

According to the analysis of the Ministry of Revenue, based on the rate of devaluation of the paper money, the equivalent of the CPI change rate over these fifty years was only 1.396%.

If you think about it this way, the Ming Dynasty Treasure Notes, which have fallen so drastically, have only been worth half their value in the last fifty years. Doesn't this indirectly prove that the Treasure Notes have already fallen as low as they can and are about to bottom out?

Furthermore, with the continued recovery of the market for banknotes and a significant increase in trading volume recently, many people who missed out in the last wave are eager to try their luck and make a profit in this wave of market activity.

Many people said that as long as they are not so greedy and run away after making a little money, they will never be trapped like the previous batch.

But before these people could make up their minds completely.

Merchants who genuinely need the paper money have already begun to enter the market.

The price of the paper money jumped very easily, first breaking through the threshold of "one cash for one coin".

Then, without any pressure, the price of "one string of cash for two coins" was reached in the fifth year of Zhengde.

As the market began to heat up, other money shops also joined in.

After the previous surge, most of these money shops had already sold off their precious banknotes in the last wave.

However, their keen business sense also led them to take advantage of these two months to quickly acquire cheap banknotes from other regions.

When they discovered that the "Quan" brand had stepped in to support the price of the banknotes, these guys who sensed the trend didn't rush out to dump their shares. Instead, they planned to take advantage of the situation and make a killing.

Now the opportunity has arrived.

With the involvement of these merchants, the circulation of the paper money greatly increased.

The price fluctuations of the paper money also began to become unusually sensitive.

Now, even detailed prices have emerged, such as "two strings of cash for five coins" or "three strings of cash for eight coins".

However, although the price of the paper money gradually approached the official price of "one string of cash for four coins", the total transaction volume was not large.

The fact that the current emperor adopted the official prices set during the Chenghua era sent a strong signal to the merchants.

Since we can not be bound by the current dynasty and allow the valuation of paper money to be benchmarked against the Chenghua period, who knows if it will not be benchmarked against the Xuande and Yongle periods in the future?

Regardless of whether ordinary people in the market accept it or not, as long as the imperial court can use this price to offset commercial taxes, and as long as merchants can make a profit, such a market will definitely exist.

But it wasn't just the merchants of money shops and banks who could see this; those merchants who traveled all over the Grand Canal also realized the trend of the recovery of paper money.

Therefore, even though the price of the paper money had reached the official price of "one string of coins for four coins", it was still worthwhile.

Many merchants still buy up the paper money, and the reluctance of money shops and banks to sell is also growing.

After all, given the current situation, the reigning emperor might still push up the price of official documents, setting the discount rate at five or six coins.

Pei Yuan keenly sensed the changes and first tightened the supply of banknotes from the Quan brand. Then he sent messages to several of his associates in the capital.

As long as the exchange rate of the paper money is below "one string of cash for eight coins", it can be bought. However, this time, Commander Pei is not guaranteed to make a profit.

People like Lu Yin, Xiao Ying, and Li Shishi made a lot of money last time by following Pei Yuan's hype.

This time, seeing Pei Yuan's message made me feel a little numb.

When they played the game before, the price of the paper money was still "five strings of cash for one coin". Even so, those who were slow to act, like Li Shishi, still lost some money.

The price of the paper money has now reached "one string of paper money for four coins", but Commander Pei actually said that anything below "one string of paper money for eight coins" is acceptable.

Even Lu Yin, who had unwavering faith in Pei Yuan, hesitated.

In the end, it was only to show his attitude that Eunuch Lu sent his men to the market to buy 30,000 taels of silver in paper money as a token gesture.

Xiao Ying was much stingier; after hearing that Pei Yuan didn't offer a guaranteed minimum return, he decisively ignored it.

After Xiao Tong heard from Lu Yong that Lu Yin had bought 30,000 taels of silver notes, Xiao Ying suspiciously followed suit with 10,000 taels.

As for Li Shishi, he dared not touch him this time.

He was spending the Ning Prince's public funds. He lost money speculating in cryptocurrencies last time, which made him almost ashamed to face the Prince of Ning.

Xiao Ying's actions attracted attention, but no one cared.

However, Lu Yin's actions were quite noticeable.

This is the Grand Eunuch, the Chief Eunuch of the Directorate of Ceremonial. The fact that he can afford to spend large sums of silver on a buying spree at current market prices proves that the rumors about the revaluation of the paper money are not unfounded.

As all sorts of strange rumors emerged, those who held the precious paper became increasingly reluctant to sell it.

When finally some bold individuals began buying up the paper money at a price of "two strings of cash for nine coins," people finally started to recognize its potential for appreciation.

Just as Pei Yuan was slowly pushing up the price of the paper money, a reply arrived from Wang Qiong.

(End of this chapter)