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

Chapter 705 Chaos Arises
Only by representing the interests of a sufficient number of people can Pei Yuan become an existence that cannot be mentioned, touched, or looked at directly, like the military settlements of the Ming Dynasty.

Cheng Leixiang nodded without saying anything more.

Pei Yuan attached great importance to the soybean industry chain in Shandong and had long ago formulated relevant strategies.

Since those old interest groups are unwilling to let Pei Yuan profit, then no one should play along.

Although there are few artisans in Shandong and their cotton cloth making skills are poor, the cotton in Shandong is of excellent quality.

After being made into soft, warm, thick cotton clothes and quilts, they can find a huge market in high-latitude regions such as Liaodong, Korea, and Japan.

Those three regions are also large enough to have sufficient resources to offset trade here.

Pei Yuan thought of Korea and Japan, and then of today's court audience.

I wonder if these two companies have clashed again over their positions.

Then, thinking of Chaohe, I thought of Empress Xia.

I wonder if, on this special day, Empress Xia will regain her freedom and be able to receive the worship of the ladies of the court like a mistress of the house.

Pei Yuan felt that the possibility was still very high.

After all, Empress Dowager Zhang's reason for dealing with Empress Xia was unfounded. She forcibly moved Empress Xia to Zhuofang Garden, where she, as the Empress Dowager, had room to maneuver.

However, receiving congratulations from ladies of the court was a grand ceremony of the imperial court.

This was not a private matter for the Grand Empress Dowager, the Empress Dowager, and the Empress. Rather, it was a matter of great political significance for them, as they were the ones assisting the monarch, and they had the obligation to win over those women of noble birth and bestow honor upon them.

Those women of official rank will also be able to enter the palace to offer congratulations, which they will consider a great honor.

For example, Xia Yan, the Grand Secretary during the Jiajing reign, is a case in point.

According to the system of the Ming Dynasty, official titles were generally only granted to the principal wife of an official. If the principal wife died early and a second wife had to be remarried, special favors could be given, but such favors to the second wife could only be given once.

Generally speaking, in a society like the Ming Dynasty where one husband had one wife and multiple concubines, many officials would not necessarily take another wife.

Because I'm never idle anyway.

The old Grand Secretary Xia was quite special. His first wife died very early, and his second wife also died soon after. In the end, he married a second wife.

According to the system of the Ming Dynasty, his third wife could not receive any official title from the court.

As a result, Madam Xia San had been married to Xia Yan for over thirty years. She watched as other men's wives could enter the palace to pay homage in a glamorous and beautiful manner from time to time, and when the Empress was personally tending to silkworms, the noblewomen could also have a happy family gathering.

She, the wife of the Grand Secretary, was nothing at all.

She wasn't even qualified to wear those nice clothes.

The jealous and fierce Madam Xia would get furious at the thought of all this and would verbally abuse and pressure Xia Yan every day.

Xia Yan was eventually driven to the point where she couldn't take it anymore.

So she went crying to the Myriad Longevity Emperor of the Xuandu Realm, "Your Majesty, please say something."

Jiajing was dumbfounded. "It's you again?"
This is a fixed-body question!

Therefore, Emperor Jiajing had no choice but to issue another special decree granting Lady Xia a title.

Therefore, as long as Empress Dowager Zhang could not come up with a decent reason, she could not prevent Empress Xia from appearing in front of everyone during this moment of glory that all the noble ladies in the court were looking forward to.

Thinking of this, Pei Yuan was momentarily distracted.

Although Pei Yuan and Empress Xia only had a one-night stand, Pei Yuan still felt a little uncomfortable at the thought that the woman might be humiliated by the Demon Empress in front of the other noblewomen.

Given the humiliation Empress Xia has suffered these days, would she really start a fight with Empress Dowager Zhang in front of the other noblewomen?
Perhaps Zhu Houzhao would also end up in a sorry state today.

Pei Yuan's mind was currently on the palace, eager to know if trouble had already broken out in the harem.

However, none of his subordinates could muster a wife from outside the official family.

Although Cheng Leixiang, Cao Xing, and Deng Liang were already third-rank commanders, they had neither seniority nor merit.

They have no right to ask for this imperial decree.

Moreover, they were all military officers, which, under the current political circumstances, placed them at a lower status than civil officials.

In the early days, things were a bit better, as the court had relatively lenient rules regarding court ladies paying homage to foreign dignitaries.

During Zhu Yuanzhang's time, during the New Year's Day court ceremony, in addition to the wives of civil officials of the fourth rank and above, and military officials of the fifth rank and above, the wives of those who had not yet been granted titles could also participate in the grand ceremony.

Zhu Yuanzhang even extended this rule to the wives of sixth-rank military officers.

However, during the Yongle reign, the scale of these events was reduced, and only women of official rank who had received imperial decrees were allowed to participate. Later, the scope was further narrowed, allowing only women of the third rank or higher in both civil and military positions to participate in the court ceremonies.

One can imagine how glorious this must have been.

Pei Yuan thought for a long time and realized that he could only wait until the matter of the Grand Sacrifice was over before asking Xiao Ying.

Xiao Ying, as a first-rank Left Commander-in-Chief, had military achievements in Yanggu and the title of Marquis. His wife was granted an imperial decree.

Pei Yuan could only put aside his worries for the time being and asked Deng Liang, "Last time you mentioned the Xuanhu Sect, I originally planned to wait until the Shandong issue was resolved before going to the Northwest to take a look."

"But yesterday I heard from inside the court that something seems to have happened in Yansui, and it was the work of the Xuanhu Sect."

"How come the Xuanhu Sect has expanded so quickly?"

According to Pei Yuan's memory, it seems that no major religious unrest occurred in the Northwest during this era.

Therefore, he didn't take the Xuanhu Sect's affairs too seriously.

How come things are getting even worse now?
When Pei Yuan asked about this, Deng Liang quickly replied, "Commander, to be honest, I have also been concerned about things back home."

"Last time... cough cough."

Deng Liang almost blurted something out, and quickly stopped himself.

Pei Yuan guessed what Deng Liang wanted to say, rolled his eyes and said, "It's just about sending a letter to Kang Hai. Kang Hai has already submitted his petition to my office. What's there to hide?"

"Go ahead."

Deng Liang chuckled awkwardly before explaining, "I didn't have any other intentions. It's just that I felt great after beating up Li Mengyang last time, and I couldn't help but share it with Kang Hai, the aggrieved party."

"Kang Hai was deeply moved when he learned of Qianhu's righteous act."

Pei Yuan was pleased to hear this.

It was really satisfying to beat up Li Mengyang, but after traveling such a long way and almost messing things up, it would be a happy thing if someone could approve of my actions.

He complained somewhat, "Then why did Kang Hai only mention the Xuanhu Sect and the Northwest in his letter, without a single word of thanks?" Deng Liang quickly explained, "Chief, you're wronging Kang Hai. How could such a thing be written in a letter?"

"To be honest, Kang Hai even wrote back, instructing his subordinates not to mention it lightly. He knew this was no small matter and planned to personally thank the commander when the opportunity arose."

"But he left the capital in a fit of rage back then. If he were to return, it might cause unnecessary speculation and bring trouble to the commander."

Pei Yuan felt a little better.

That's more or less.

He said, “What trouble is there? I have always valued talent. If Kang Haiguo is talented, I will naturally recommend him for a position so that he can put his life’s work to use.”

When Pei Yuan first heard that Kang Hai was a writer, he couldn't help but feel resistant.

Now that Kang Hai is so cooperative, it would be a pleasant surprise if these "Seven Literary Talents" were willing to join their side.

Moreover, Kang Hai also had another writer, Wang Jiusi, one of the "Seven Literary Talents".

If things go smoothly in the future, how can we do it without these great Confucian scholars debating the classics?

Deng Liang was delighted to hear this and said, "I will definitely mention it when I write to Kang Hai next time."

Then, continuing the previous topic, "In the last letter, I also asked Kang Hai about the Xuanhu Sect in detail."

"Kang Hai said that the Xuanhu Sect was originally just a branch of the White Lotus Sect. But later, the leader of the Xuanhu Sect learned a method to make the followers collect Xuanhu beads."

"Those followers were like madmen, recruiting people everywhere. Later, the Xuanhu Sect expanded too quickly, attracting the attention of Kang Hai and other like-minded people. So they wrote letters to the governors and garrison commanders to warn them about this."

"Those governors and garrison commanders all felt that this matter was troublesome and planned to muddle through until the next one came to take over this big problem."

"But the Xuanhu Sect didn't know that. After hearing that the imperial court might deal with them, they started causing trouble in various places."

"Moreover, in the fourth year of Zhengde, the little prince of Dalu had just attacked Yansui and trapped General Wu Jiang in Longzhou City. Now Yansui is in a state of instability. The newly appointed General Hou Xun is constantly worried that Dalu will come again, so he has no mind to deal with the Xuanhu Sect."

Pei Yuan was completely stunned after hearing all this.

Damn it!
No wonder the Xuanhu Sect, which has never caused much trouble in history, is so fierce.

It turns out the root of the problem was with myself.

As he continued thinking, Pei Yuan became increasingly unsettled.

If the Xuanhu Sect, as a branch of the White Lotus Sect, can manipulate the relic, then what about the more established heretical sects, the White Lotus Sect and the Maitreya Sect?

Pei Yuan knew all too well the insane expansion potential of his original plan.

If the White Lotus Sect and the Maitreya Sect also did this, wouldn't these things be everywhere?

Pei Yuan took a deep breath and said to Yun Weilin in the crowd, "Quickly go and gather more information about the Xuanhu Sect for me. I need it."

Yun Weilin quickly agreed and was about to leave.

Pei Yuan then instructed, "Pass down the order to have Daoist Zhenji go to various places to thoroughly investigate local cults. See if there are any cults similar to the Xuanhu Cult that are rapidly expanding. If any appear, report back to me immediately."

"Oh, and we should also remind them in Nanjing."

Yun Weilin paused for a moment, wanting to hear if Pei Yuan had any further instructions.

Pei Yuan had already said, "Go, and be quick!"

Yun Weilin then hurriedly left.

Deng Liang, unaware of the situation, was overjoyed to see Pei Qianhu become serious.

He quickly said, "Many people in the Northwest are counting on the commander to stop those heretics in time. Kang Hai is both a scholar and a warrior, and he is skilled in strategy. The commander can ask him directly."

Pei Yuan thought it made sense.

Kang Hai was the first to realize that the Xuanhu Sect might cause trouble, and his letter was quite insightful. If you want to understand the Xuanhu Sect, he is indeed a good candidate.

Pei Yuan immediately turned to Yun Buxian and said, "Your father is busy with something. Go and write a letter for me. Arrange for Kang Hai to meet you in Shandong. Tell him that I, the commander, intend to take action against the Xuanhu Sect."

Yun Buxian quickly agreed and left.

Pei Yuan looked around at everyone; most of his underlings were there.

Those of higher rank are currently in the palace paying homage to the emperor.

He said to the crowd, "I have received your kind intentions. Now you may all disperse and attend to your own matters."

He then said to Cheng Leixiang, "I placed you in Tianjin to guard this strategic location. Your most important mission is to stay there as long as possible and be ready to be summoned by me at any time."

"I am pleased that you thought of coming to the capital to pay your respects to me. But please don't do this again."

Cheng Leixiang felt embarrassed upon hearing this.

He didn't know why Commander Pei, who had been smiling just moments before, suddenly turned stern.

Pei Yuan didn't say much to them and directly told the three of them, "You should go back to Tianjin as soon as possible. We won't keep you here for dinner."

Deng Liang and Cao Xing originally wanted to get closer to their boss, but seeing the situation, they didn't dare to stay any longer.

Pei Yuan was already preoccupied with the matter of Empress Xia, and now, thinking about the various rebellions that might break out, especially since these rebellions could be related to him, his mood became even worse.

Pei Yuan chased everyone away and went back to his residence to sit quietly for a while.

By the afternoon, he figured Xiao Ying should have returned, so he asked Xiao Tong to take a few personal guards and accompany him to Xiao Ying's residence.

Xiao Ying returned early today as expected, and was somewhat surprised to hear that Pei Yuan had arrived.

Is Pei Yuan here to offer New Year's greetings?
Is he really that polite?
It shouldn't be.

As soon as Pei Yuan saw Xiao Ying, he immediately asked, "Brother Xiao, why are you back so early today? Where is your wife?"

Xiao Ying was stunned when he heard this.

His gaze first fell on Pei Yuan in disbelief, then shifted to Xiao Tong in disbelief.

Xiao Tong was also somewhat bewildered.

Pei Yuan was trying to find out about Empress Xia when he followed Xiao Ying's gaze and realized that Xiao Tong's presence was inappropriate.

So she gave him a wink and casually said, "I need to talk to your father about some important confidential matters. You can go out now."

Xiao Tong was even more confused. He moved his feet and didn't even know how he got out of the room.

(End of this chapter)