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

Chapter 702 Exchange Conditions
Not only did a reply arrive, but also Wang San Gongzi, a famous philanderer of the Ming Dynasty and a male protagonist in erotic novels who was as famous as Ximen Qing.

Pei Yuan looked at the eight-year-old Third Young Master Wang, his head full of question marks as he looked at the messenger who had gone to deliver the message.

"What is he here for?"

The messenger said helplessly, "Minister Wang said the matter is of great importance, and he doesn't trust anyone else."

Pei Yuan smiled upon hearing this, thinking to himself that it made sense.

This matter is not just of great importance, it's practically like dancing on a knife's edge; the slightest mishap could lead to disaster.

Given Wang Qiong's shrewdness and experience, how could he possibly entrust matters concerning his life and fortune to a mere messenger?

Wang Chaohan clearly still remembered Pei Yuan, whom he had met before.

The somewhat immature person asked, "Do you think I'm small?"

Pei Yuan smiled and said, "That's not it."

This sense of disorientation is hard to describe; it's like... like seeing an eight-year-old Ximen Qing.

Wang Chaohan was somewhat displeased, so he bowed respectfully and said, "Wang Chaohan, a centurion of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, greets Commander Pei."

Pei Yuan laughed heartily.

Wang Qiong had rendered meritorious service, and the imperial court wanted to show its appreciation by bestowing upon him a special favor and reward.

Wang Qiong looked at his three good sons and felt that with the eldest son Chaoli and the second son Chaoxu in their prime, fame and fortune were within their grasp.

Only the third son, Chaohan, is a bit of a goofball; perhaps we should let him receive this reward.

Ultimately, it turned out that neither of them worked out either...

Seeing Wang Chaohan bow to him in a proper manner, Pei Yuan smiled and said, "You do look quite respectable. Does the prince have any message for you to convey?"

Wang Chaohan said, "I can only tell you about this."

Pei Yuan waved his hand, signaling everyone to step back.

Wang Chaohan looked around, then went to the door himself to take a look before taking out a letter from his pocket and handing it to Pei Yuan.

Pei Yuan glanced at the wax seal on the envelope and casually opened it.

After reading Wang Qiong's letter, Pei Yuan remained expressionless and then asked Wang Chaohan, "What else did the Duke of Wang say?"

Wang Chaohan shook his head and said, "Everything I need to say is in the letter."

Pei Yuan folded the letter, tore it horizontally and then vertically, and finally casually placed it on the table. "Then you can go back now."

Pei Yuan's response to Wang Qiong was not unexpected.

Pei Yuan was able to foresee that Wang Qiong could form an alliance with Wang Shouren and Wang Hua. Was Wang Qiong really that stupid?

If he could become the Minister of Revenue, he and Wang Hua would together occupy two seats among the Seven Ministers, and two very powerful seats at that.

One was in charge of the imperial examination system and the court system, while the other was in charge of the court's purse.

During the Nine Ministers' deliberations, having their support would result in two more votes, while supporting the opposing side would mean a difference of four votes.

It can be said that this is already a political faction that is beginning to take shape.

In this situation, it would be almost impossible to seek to make Wang Qiong a vassal.

It's a pity that dreams are the most beautiful thing.

Pei Yuan had a way to lift Wang Qiong up, and naturally he also had the ability to keep him pinned down.

As for Wang Hua, Pei Yuan could send him up, and he could also bring him down.

Wang Chaohan looked at the letter that Pei Yuan had torn to shreds in disbelief. "What do you mean by this?"

Pei Yuan calmly replied, "It means the talks broke down. Tell him to fix up his house back home and prepare to return to Taiyuan."

"You!" Wang Chaohan's face flushed red, seemingly not knowing how to deal with the situation before him.

Pei Yuan rather rudely gave them the order to leave.

"Why aren't you leaving yet?"

Wang Chaohan seemed to have made up his mind, and said with a flushed face, "There's... there's one more letter."

As he spoke, he took out another envelope from his pocket and placed it on the table in the courtroom.

Pei Yuan was somewhat surprised and cursed inwardly as an old fox.

He then took the second letter, tore it open, and read it.

Wang Qiong's second letter was much more sincere.

Although Pei Yuan had already pointed out the path to becoming one of the Seven Great Ministers to Wang Qiong, in such a crucial matter, a slight misstep could lead to disastrous consequences.

Wang Qiong had absolutely no confidence in pushing this plan forward on her own.

Unfortunately, Pei Yuan's plan was logically sound and feasible, making it difficult for Wang Qiong to give it up.

In his letter, Wang Qiong proposed a new solution: he would not make any promises, but he could exchange some conditions.

Pei Yuan looked at Wang Qiong's second letter over and over again, feeling that the result was not ideal, but it seemed acceptable.

Pei Yuan held the letter and pondered it for a long time before suddenly slamming it onto the table.

Wang Chaohan was startled, thinking that the negotiations between the two sides had completely broken down.

But then Pei Yuan complained, "I am a close friend of the Prince, despite our age difference. We are practically family. Why do you have to use such methods on me?"

Wang Chaohan was stunned, feeling that he had learned a lot.

Pei Yuan put down the letter and said to Wang Chaohan, "I, Commander Pei, am an honest person, unlike some people who like to use power and tricks."

"Since the prince wants to make a deal with me, then I might as well tell you what I want."

"When Minister of Revenue Sun Jiao and Vice Minister of Revenue Yang Tan retire, and Wang Gong, the Vice Minister of Revenue, becomes Minister of Revenue, then the Ministry of Revenue will have two vacant vice minister positions."

"I want these two positions as vice ministers. I can assure the prince in advance that I will definitely choose people with both virtue and talent to fill these positions."

"My main reason for wanting these two positions is to select suitable people to be in charge of the reform. One of these two vice ministers will be in charge of the reform in Shandong. The other will be in charge of the circulation of paper money."

"This single whip technique is something that Wang Gong and I have worked hard on for a long time. It can be said that the merits and demerits of our entire lives are all tied to this."

“My efforts to promote this matter are in our common interest and will also benefit the prince.”

Wang Chaohan clearly hadn't expected Pei Yuan to be so direct. With his limited intelligence and education, he couldn't help but ask, "How can court officials exchange gifts privately?"

Pei Yuan smiled and said, "Just go back and tell your father the truth. My decision to promote Prince Wang to the position of Minister of Revenue was indeed out of a sense of public duty. But since Prince Wang wants to negotiate with me, I might as well test our relationship."

"This is not a private transaction; we can go through the formal process. All we need to do is ask the prince to nominate him during the court discussion."

Pei Yuan remembered that when Wang Hua took office, he was very powerful and directly appointed two vice ministers.

Although Mao Cheng's unpopularity played a part, it also shows that officials in their own territories still have a certain degree of influence.

Moreover, Pei Yuan did not place all his hopes on Wang Qiong.

He looked at Wang Minghan and said, "I want to give it a try." Previously, Pei Yuan had promoted Wang Hua to the position of Minister of Rites by relying on power struggles outside the court.

Pei Yuan had never handled a formal court recommendation like this, which determined the fate of high-ranking civil officials. He would only know how deep the water was after he tried it.

Wang Minghan hesitated for a long time before noting down Pei Yuan's words.

Pei Yuan summoned the messenger who had gone to find Wang Qiong before, and said, "Go to Bazhou again and send the Third Young Master Wang back."

Pei Yuan glanced at Wang Chaohan and stopped pretending to be a prince.

He said directly to the messenger, "Tell Wang Qiong to give me a definite answer. If he refuses, there's no need to waste paper writing any more letters."

Wang Chaohan's face flushed red with anger, but he was not a particularly outstanding person to begin with, and he was intimidated by Pei Yuan, so he did not dare to argue with him face to face.

The messenger had only been in Bazhou for a short time when he rushed back overnight to deliver the message.

This time, Wang Qiong's answer was very straightforward: "Okay!"

Since Pei Yuan had promised to select a person with both virtue and talent to serve in the position, and had also promised that the main responsibilities of these two vice ministers would revolve around the reform, Wang Qiong had nothing to worry about.

Pei Yuan is absolutely right.

Whether the "Single Whip Law" can succeed is a matter that can affect their historical evaluation.

Even without Pei Yuan's intervention, Wang Qiong himself would have preferred candidates who could focus on the reforms when selecting a vice minister.

Pei Yuan completed his tug-of-war with Wang Qiong.

However, at this time, the imperial court had already focused its attention on the New Year's court greetings and various celebrations.

Pei Yuan felt that now was not a good time to cause trouble for Yang Tinghe.

During the Chinese New Year...

Unexpectedly, even though Pei Yuan didn't want to cause trouble, the world refused to be at peace.

It happened on the last day of the seventh year of the Zhengde reign.

Suddenly, the imperial court issued an edict, promoting Zhang Chun, the prefect of Yingtian Prefecture, to the position of Right Vice Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate to govern Yunyang, and Jin Xianmin, the Shandong Provincial Surveillance Commissioner, to the position of Left Vice Censor-in-Chief to govern Yansui.

When Pei Yuan heard Wei Ne from the Office of Transmission deliver these two appointments, he was completely dumbfounded.

His gaze fell on the words "Yunyang," and he asked Wei Ne with some shock, "What happened to Yunyang?"

Wei Ne calmed his breathing and said somewhat nervously.

"A civil unrest broke out in Yunyang Prefecture, and the local government was unable to control it. The imperial court urgently appointed Zhang Chun as the governor of Yunyang, ordering him to quell the riot as soon as possible."

Pei Yuan was taken aback, a surge of anger rising within him. "How come I didn't know about this?"

Wei Ne was also a little stunned, and then could only reply, "It's just a common civil unrest. The commander didn't instruct me to keep an eye on things in Yunyang beforehand."

Pei Yuan waved his hand and said, "I wasn't talking about you."

Then, he called out to the outside of the hall, "Someone come here."

Cen Meng, who was guarding outside, immediately came in and said, "Commander, I'm here."

Pei Yuan immediately rebuked, "Go and send a message right now, telling Sikong Sui and Tantai Fangtu to come see me!"

Han Qianhu was reluctant to get involved in the quagmire of the Jingxiang shantytown people, and Sikong Sui and Tantai Fangtu were important links between Pei Yuan and Yunyang.

In a sense, Pei Yuan could be considered a semi-ruler of Yunyang.

Unexpectedly, while civil unrest broke out in Yunyang, they were completely unaware of it.

Pei Yuan wanted to know more about the inside story, so he asked Wei Ne, "How was Zhang Chun chosen?"

Wei Ne replied, "When Zhang Chun served as the Imperial Inspector, he had experience in pacifying the Miao people in Guizhou. He was also strongly recommended by Jiang Mian, the Vice Minister of Rites, so he was selected as the Governor of Yunyang."

“Zhang Chun…” Pei Yuan thought of this name and felt a sense of relief.

Unexpectedly, the casual move I made yielded unexpected results.

I remember when I asked Wang Chang last time, he mentioned that he used the pretext of introduction to get Zhang Chun promoted for free, and afterwards Zhang Chun regarded him as a close friend and they had a very good relationship.

When Wang Chang was questioned by the Censorate during his last trip to Beijing, Zhang Chun even wrote him a letter of greeting.

Now this connection has actually come in handy.

Pei Yuan looked at the other name and location of the appointment with some confusion. "Has there been a riot in Yansui as well? Why is Jin Xianmin chosen? Isn't Jin Xianmin still involved in the Shandong case?"

Wei Ne quickly replied, "I heard it was the Xuanhu Sect causing trouble, but the disturbance wasn't too serious. Originally, there was no need to send someone specifically to quell the unrest, but this person was chosen by Yang Yiqing."

Pei Yuan understood what was going on as soon as he heard that Yang Yiqing had made the move.

It turns out that a minor demon had caused trouble, and a powerful being was about to rescue him.

Jin Xianmin was reinstated as the head of the Shandong Provincial Surveillance Commission because of Liu Jin's downfall, which was politically correct and Yang Yiqing exonerated him.

To a large extent, he bears a resemblance to Yang Yiqing.

Last time, Yang Yiqing felt that he was short-handed in the capital, so he made a deal with Li Shishi, planning to send Jin Xianmin to the capital as the Vice Censor-in-Chief and reassign him to a new position.

Yang Yiqing's wishful thinking was one-sided, but Jin Xianmin had no such idea.

Yang Yiqing is clearly in a weak position in the court now, so why would he go and stand on the opposite side of Yang Tinghe?

Furthermore, Commander Pei was not too happy with this decision, so Jin Xianmin was warmly supported by the people and stayed in Shandong.

Now that such a big mess has occurred in Shandong, Jin Xianmin, before the Shandong case broke out, cooperated with Ding Hong, the commander of the Xuzhou Left Guard, to take the initiative to report, which to a considerable extent proves his innocence.

So, Yang Yiqing, being a very generous man, took advantage of the Yunyang riots and the fact that the Xuanhu Sect was causing trouble in the Northwest to pull Jin Xianmin out of the mire.

Pei Yuan asked Wei Ne, "Is there any other important news? Has the Prince of Ning submitted a memorial?"

Wei Ne shook his head. "It's almost the end of the year, and all we've received are congratulatory messages from various places. Nothing major has happened. The local authorities wouldn't be so ungrateful. As for Prince Ning, there's been no movement yet."

Pei Yuan waved his hand, signaling him to step back.

Not long after, Sikong Sui and Tantai Fangtu were summoned by Cen Meng.

Seeing the two men arrive cheerfully with relaxed expressions, Pei Yuan didn't mention Yunyang for the time being, and instead asked calmly, "What have you two been busy with today, Commanders?"

The two men quickly replied, "Reporting to the commander. With the end of the year approaching, many people are burning incense and praying for blessings at temples everywhere. There are also some unscrupulous monks and Taoists who are swindling and cheating people at various temples. We two, along with the Imperial Guards, have been patrolling around."

Pei Yuan was furious when he heard this. His men were about to rebel, and yet they still had the nerve to lead people to the temple to plunder and make a pittance.

However, it seems that neither of them knew about it.

Pei Yuan immediately cut to the chase, "Are you aware that there's a riot in Yunyang Prefecture?"

Both of them were somewhat taken aback upon hearing this. "A mob riot? When?"

Pei Yuan said, "The imperial court has already come up with a solution, and you're telling me you were unaware of it?"

Both of their expressions changed, and they said in unison, "Could it be that someone wants to forcibly demolish Yunyang Prefecture?"

(End of this chapter)